Christmas cards from Ed and Virginia Ball

Ed and Virginia Ball sent beautiful, uniquely designed Christmas cards to family, friends and acquaintances. Some featured their family while others documented places they traveled, events in their lives, and the people they knew. This card, probably from 1954, depicts Ed and Virginia and four of their five children. Only Nancy, who was born in 1955, is missing. The card features the front door of their home; when the “door” is opened, the family is visible.

The 1987 card documents trips to Alaska and Australia. Ed cruised Glacier Bay while Virginia attended a meeting of the National Wildlife Federation in Alaska. Afterwards they fished on Kodiak Island. In Australia, they worked on a documentary about Aboriginal rock art. Another highlight of the year was the laying of the cornerstone for Minnetrista.

For the next year’s card, the featured event was the opening of Minnetrista Cultural Center on December 10.

One of my favorite cards is from 1991. That year, PBS star Bob Ross and his “happy little trees” were featured in the exhibit Bob Ross: The Joy Behind the Painting at Minnetrista. Ross attended the opening reception and created two paintings – one with Minnetrista volunteer Maxine Paxson and the other with Ed Ball. That experience must have meant a lot to Ed, since he featured a photo of the occasion on the 1991 Christmas card.

Notice the tiny spot in the upper left hand corner. That’s an airplane, added by Ross to represent Ed’s interest in flying.We have many of these cards in the Minnetrista Heritage Collection. What a great documentation of the active lives of Ed and Virginia Ball.