A SPECIAL exhibition exploring the history of greetings cards will open at the Head of Steam – Darlington Railway Museum next month.

‘Little Works of Art’ is the latest display to go on show in the museum’s temporary exhibition gallery and will feature around 280 greeting cards and postcards including Christmas, New Year, Easter, Valentine and birthday cards.

It will include examples by many of the most significant publishers such as Raphael Tuck & Sons, Marcus Ward, Thomas De La Rue, Robert Canton, Faulkner & Co and Ernest Nister.

A broad range of designs and types of card, including paper lace, silk fringed, embossed, shaped, humorous, novelty and traditional, will be covered in the exhibition.

The exhibition covers 100 years of greetings cards, from the 1850s to the 1950s and will run from Saturday November 5 until Sunday January 8.

The museum will also be welcoming a new exhibition curated by the North Eastern Railway Association (NERA) in December, entitled ‘150 years of the Forcett Branch’.

The exhibition will open on the museum platform on Wednesday 7 December and will run until Wednesday 22 February.

Sarah Gouldsbrough, acting manager at the Head of Steam, said:

“We regularly host visiting displays and exhibitions, which are popular with visitors, and look forward to seeing some of the colourful greetings cards, which will create a charming exhibition of what really are little works of art.

“NERA is a regular exhibitor and its displays are always of great interest.”