Jesus Christ with Crown of Thorns, Hoboken, NJ, circa 1910

About this postcard

Head-and-shoulders devotional portrait of Jesus Christ wearing a crown of thorns, eyes raised heavenward against a plain gold ground. The crown and the star-studded trim of the red robe are picked out in raised silver relief. The crown of thorns is a standard Passion symbol, and the upward gaze frames the image as an object of devotion rather than a narrative scene. The card carried a Danish Christmas and New Year greeting to a family in Hoboken, New Jersey. Signed by Theresa and Hulda and addressed to their "kære forældre," dear parents, it wishes them a merry Christmas and a good and blessed New Year, with thanks "for all godt i det gamle," for all the good of the old year. Hoboken, a port city across the Hudson from Manhattan, was home to many immigrant households in these years, and cards like this one kept family ties to Europe alive.