Greeting Card with Wishbone and Flowers

This chromolithographic greeting card exemplifies the Victorian era's ornamental approach to correspondence. A hand holds a wishbone while text reads "Wishing you every happiness" and "Much Luck & Good Wishes." Vibrant floral borders in red, blue, and yellow frame the composition—typical of mass-produced cards that saturated middle-class homes during the 1870s–80s. The chromolithographic process, which allowed multiple color plates to create rich, detailed prints affordably, transformed greeting cards into accessible luxury goods. Such cards reflected period conventions of genteel expression and superstition, with the wishbone serving as both talisman and social ritual. These ephemeral objects, once dismissed as mere sentiment, represent significant innovations in color printing technology and the commercialization of emotional expression.