Tolkien family Christmas card
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Image reproduced by kind permission of Oliver Suffield.
This card was sent to the Suffields in Birmingham by Mabel Tolkien from Bloemfontein in the Orange Free State, South Africa. Arthur Tolkien was a bank manager there. Mabel is seated; the nurse is holding the baby J R R Tolkien then ten months old. The cook and a servant are also included. The original photo was sepia, Mabel had coloured in some sections, and had created the lettering at the bottom and on the side.The card reads:
A November morning. Taken at 7:30 on Nov 15th 1892 by our own vines in the Oranje Vrij-Staat.
A Merry Xmastide and Happy New Year to you all.
