These Weird and Funny Victorian New Year’s Cards Prove People Have Always Been Weird

John Summers • Contributor

Dec 27, 2024 8:00 PM EST

We like to think we've cornered the market on being quirky, funny, and downright bizarre—like humor only became a thing in the age of memes. And sure, we've come a long way in terms of cat gifs and Photoshop battles, but let's not pretend people 200 years ago were all serious and boring. If anything, the Victorians had their own brand of weird, and it's on full display in these bizarre New Year's cards from the late 1800s.

Apparently, the Victorians thought nothing said "Happy New Year!" like frogs riding lobsters, children wrestling oversized insects, or pigs doing… well, whatever pigs do. These cards are proof that people have always been wonderfully strange, and our modern-day memes might just be a continuation of a long-standing tradition of human absurdity. So, let's take a moment to appreciate the fact that weirdness isn't new—it's timeless.

01
Hunting for a better year

via Vintage Everyday
02
Somehow... the dinosaurs returned

via Vintage Everyday
03
And we think we had a bad year

via Vintage Everyday
04
That's enough Victorian internet for today

via Vintage Everyday
05
I don't get it. Was it a leap year?

via Vintage Everyday
06
Greetings from the devil

via Vintage Everyday
07
Happy new year, Hoping a bear eats you!

via Vintage Everyday
08
Making soup out of the previous year. Somehow relatable

via Vintage Everyday
09
Nothing says happy new year like woodland creatures roasting a rat

via Vintage Everyday
10
Oh look, more rats!

via Vintage Everyday
11
Seems like they had a rat problem back then

via Vintage Everyday
12
Oh look, it's me

via Vintage Everyday
13
This one feeds the past year to a spider-sun. alrighty then

via Vintage Everyday
14
wow they really hated 1889

via Vintage Everyday
15
Carving Out New Year Wishes

via Ranker
16
Resolutions Are Like Bubbles

via Ranker
17
Kicking The Old Year Into Oblivion

via Ranker
18
OMG, this is like one of them wholesome memes your grandma sends you on Facebook

via Ranker
19
Baby New Year Making An Entrance

via Ranker
20
It's a baby on a butterfly

via Ranker
21
I don't know about the cussing

via Ranker
22
Is that god or the grim reaper?

via Ranker
23
Oh look, cats!

via Ranker
24
Did the kids hatch out of the egg or did the chick?

via Ranker
25
Just naked babies drinking Champagne

via Ranker
26
1889 sleeping with the fishes

via Ranker
27
They seem up to no good

via Ranker
28
Maybe 2020 wasn't as bad as 1889

via Ranker