Forget Me Not: Poetry and pictures in Victorian and Edwardian greetings cards

A free exhibition that explores the relationship between poetry and pictures on greeting cards printed between 1840 and 1920. A ‘Golden Age’ for greetings cards, many thousands of birthday, Christmas, New Year, Easter, Valentine and mourning cards were exchanged annually, to celebrate and commemorate events, reinforce family ties, convey emotions and ‘make memories’.

Discover a collection that ranges from the overly sentimental and sweet, to the bawdy and the surreal, or the cruelty of the ‘Vinegar Valentine’; these cards offer a different view of the Victorians and show us that they were not very different from us.

Take inspiration from the exhibits around you and create your own greeting card at the craft station, a perfect activity for kids this summer. There will also be some Victorian puzzles and games to get stuck into and really immerse yourself in history.

It will feature cards from the Laura Seddon Collection, the largest single donor collection of greeting cards in the country, holding over 32,500 cards. The collection is part of the Manchester Metropolitan University Special Collections Museum.

This exhibition is part of a wider project run by the Special Collections Museum and the Long Nineteenth Century Network in the Department of English, at Manchester Metropolitan University. It has been funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.