Excellent Free Antique Scandinavian Christmas Cards To Print

Inside: A collection of Swedish Jenny Nystrom Christmas cards made for the Danish market; copy-right free and in the Public Domain.

Jenny Nyström: The Artist Who Defined Scandinavian Christmas

Jenny Nyström, born in 1854, was a pioneering Swedish artist widely recognized as the woman who shaped the iconic image of Christmas in Scandinavia. Her work includes a vast collection of Christmas cards and magazine covers that became a beloved holiday tradition across Sweden and beyond. Through her art, Jenny introduced festive symbols such as Christmas gifts, holiday decorations, and the Christmas tree, creating a visual language for the season that endures to this day.

One of Jenny’s most unique contributions was linking the Swedish “Santa Claus” (Jultomte) to the gnomes of Scandinavian folklore. In her illustrations, Santa is often portrayed in a traditional green coat, blending the old-world charm of Scandinavian gnomes with the warmth of a Christmas spirit. With their joy and wonder, children frequently take centre stage in her charming holiday scenes, making her work relatable to families and children alike.

The cards also showcase the beauty of Scandinavian winters, with snowy landscapes that capture the deep, peaceful quiet of forests blanketed in snow. These scenes evoke the essence of a Scandinavian winter wonderland, inviting viewers into a world of warmth, cheer, and festive celebration despite the chilly backdrop.

In Denmark, people say “Glædelig Jul” to wish someone a merry Christmas, while in Sweden and Norway, the traditional greeting is “God Jul.” Jenny’s art, filled with warmth and tradition, celebrates these customs, creating a legacy that resonates throughout Scandinavia.

I love Scandinavian Christmas cards and decorations, too; Pillarboxblue has a great round-up of Scandinavian Christmas crafts.

How To Download The Vintage Christmas Cards

Click on the highlighted title to download the antique Scandinavian Christmas cards. A higher-resolution image will open in a new tab. You can then print or save that image.

All the vintage Christmas postcards are in the Public Domain.

Vintage Christmas Cards 1-8

1. Danish Christmas Elves 1913

This antique Christmas card was from the Norwegian National Library. However, the greeting, “Glædelig Jul!” is Danish for Merry Christmas.

The Norwegian is God Jul. So, I presume this was a Christmas card sent from someone in Denmark to someone in Norway. The Christmas elves on the front look Scandinavian, and maybe that’s a basket of “Danish” pastries they carry!

2. Danish Boy Carrying Church – 1910

Another Christmas card features the Danish seasonal greeting “Glædelig Jul!” which translates as “Merry Christmas.” This time, the card shows a Danish boy holding a model of a Scandinavian Church.

3. Danish Children With Umbrella

A lovely vintage Scandinavian Christmas card painted somewhere in the early 1890s.

This collection of children’s Christmas illustrations from old picture books contains more wonderful images of children.

4. Children Feeding Birds – 1920

This is a lovely winter scene, showing two children feeding the birds.

5. Santa Feeding A Goat

I’m not sure of the date of this Jenny Nystrom card. It shows Santa feeding a goat. Interestingly, Santa is wearing a green coat and not red. Santa always used to wear green until the advertising executives of Coca-Cola gave him a red makeover.

6. Children Dancing Around the Christmas Tree

What a delightfully happy festive scene. Excited children dancing around the Christmas tree, painted in 1896. Note the flags on the Christmas tree; it is a tradition to decorate it with flags in Scandinavian countries.

7. Children Spying on The Robins

This is another delightful scene of children with birds; they are spying on them this time! Including the Christmas card classic bird, the robin. The way the card is painted, it looks like a snow globe.

8. Original Green Santa

Another Scandinavian vintage Christmas card with a painting of Santa showing him in his original green coat. Before the Coca-Cola update to a red jacket in the 1930s!

Scandinavian Postcards 9-16

9. Happy New Year Card -1914

This is a cheeky Christmas card showing a boy in traditional dress. He’s armed and dangerous, ready for a serious snowball fight.

It is also a rare Jenny Nystrom card with a greeting written in English. Rather than one of the usual Scandinavian languages on her antique Christmas cards. Painted in 1914.

This is one of the images used on these lovely free printable Christmas ornaments.

10. Gnome With Wheel Barrow

This Christmas card features a gnome hard at work. Scandinavian gnomes are among the most familiar creatures in Scandinavian folklore; they are called “nisse” in Danish and Norwegian and “tomte” in Swedish.

Nisse is typically associated with winter and Christmas. They are generally short, have a long white beard, and wear a conical or knit cap in red or some other bright colour. They often have an appearance somewhat similar to that of a garden gnome.

Scandinavian gnomes have been a trendy theme for Christmas crafts and decorations over the last couple of years, and not just in Scandinavia.

11. Christmas Angel And Cherubs

A lovely card with a more religious feel as it features an angel and cherubs. This card is dated from 1913.

12. Snowman

This is a jolly Scandinavian card with a jolly snowman on the front. The Danish for snowman is “snemand”; the Swedish word is “snögubbe“. Whereas Norwegian is very similar to English, “snømann“

13. Girl Posting A Letter

14. Boy & Girl Carrying Parcels

15. Santa at The Door

A toy-laden Santa arrives at a house full of young children.

16. Truck of Gnomes

Blue truck full of gnomes, a dog, and a Christmas tree.

Conclusion and Other Ideas

These lovely vintage Scandinavian Christmas cards would make a fabulous Christmas display. You could print and frame them or, for something more rustic, transfer them onto wood slices for decoration.

However, they would make a gorgeous festive garland strung up like bunting. You could easily print these images onto Christmas cards to send to your friends and relatives.

If you like this post, you may also like the free vintage maps of Northern Europe and maps of Norway to download.
 

There are more vintage Christmas cards with this collection of holly illustrations and drawings and Christmas botanical prints here.

These Christmas cards would be great for making Christmas ornaments like these personalized snow globes.

Other vintage card collections to check out are these Valentine postcards and cards.

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