9 Historical Animal New Year Greetings

During this reflective time of what has passed and what's to come, we're looking back at one of the ways we communicated our sentiments of goodwill and hopes for prosperity in the new year. Animals were of course along for the ride. Vintage New Year postcards from across Europe and the United States show images of a variety of animals, oftentimes surrounded by coins, four-leaf clovers, horseshoes, and chimney sweeps, all tokens of good luck.
During this reflective time of what has passed and what's to come, we're looking back at one of the ways we communicated our sentiments of goodwill and hopes for prosperity in the new year. Animals were of course along for the ride. Vintage New Year postcards from across Europe and the United States show images of a variety of animals, oftentimes surrounded by coins, four-leaf clovers, horseshoes, and chimney sweeps, all tokens of good luck.

We hope the New Year is a good one for you and the animals in your life. At the National Museum of Animals & Society, we'll be moving to our all-new building in Los Angeles this year. Learn more about our current fundraising campaign here and be sure to watch the moving video we created about our work and mission.

A Rottweiler and a Japanese doll. Davidson Bros. Serie 761-1. Printed in Germany.
Oh boy!
St. Bernard with children.
"The Lucky Pig" was a very common feature of holiday cards around the turn of the 20th Century. A Hungarian postcard (date unknown), shows two merry-looking little pigs on the heels of a chimney sweep, wishing the recipient a "Boldog ujévet," ("Happy New Year" in Hungarian).

Happy New Year!