Historical Yule Card Collection On Display

As a holiday treat from yesteryear, Bob Underdown of Elm Springs will showcase his collection of holiday items for the public.

The display will be shown at the Washington County Historical Society’s Headquarters House Museum, 118 E. Dickson St., in Fayetteville, from 2-4 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 19.

Lee Anne Wiederkehr, president, encourages the public to come to see Underdown’s unique collection.

“We are thrilled to have Mr. Underdown display his collection, especially his holiday themed cards for the holiday season.”

Admission is free and the displays will be inside the Headquarters House. Please wear a mask while inside the building, Wiederkehr said.

The collection for the retired cable TV executive has taken decades to assemble.

“I’ve been collecting for almost 20 years,” said Underdown. “I think I have around 500 items, from the Civil War until modern times. The oldest are Christmas- related letters from Union soldiers during the Civil War.”

But Underdown, who is an active Civil War reenactor, also has holiday cards from other sources to see as well.

“I have some Christmas lithographs from Harper’s Weekly. There are postcards from World War One (Greeting cards were rare then). I have a 1914 Princess Mary box given out to all British and Commonwealth soldiers, sailors and nurses,” he said.

While a collector, Underdown does not have any items for sale as of this viewing.

“I also have a large collection of beautifully colored WWI postcards sent home from British, American and German soldiers. By WWII greeting cards were more popular. I have greeting cards from the three original US aircraft carriers, USS Lexington, USS Saratoga and USS Ranger. I have greeting cards and souvenir Christmas dinner menus sent home by sailors on battleships like the USS Pennsylvania and USS Arizona,” he said.

And not all the cards are professional produced works of art and printing.

“I have several homemade cards sent home by creative soldiers. I guess the most unique things I have are a Pearl Harbor Christmas menu from 1941, a Christmas postcard of Adolf Hitler, a modern Christmas postcard from a US Airforce Drone Squadron and a Christmas propaganda leaflet dropped on US troops by the North Koreans,” he said.

As a retiree, Underdown may be known to many in Northwest Arkansas for his Civil War reenactments and volunteer efforts on the battlefields at Prairie Grove and Pea Ridge. Underdown also works on the artillery crews at such events.

Underdown