A new exhibit at the University of Iowa Library gives a unique view of a familiar English Christmas carol. Special Collections Librarian Dick Kolbet says the exhibit features Christmas cards collected by a former librarian at the University.All 850 of the greeting cards feature a “partridge in a pear tree” from “The Twelve Days of Christmas” carol. Kolbet says Calrice Krieg was intrigued by the well-known carol and accumulated a collection of the cards over four decades beginning in the 1950s.He says they’ve separated the cards into categories. One includes all Hallmark cards, another includes cards created by one particular artist. The rest are exhibited based on a classification system developed by Krieg.Krieg had a very elaborate system for classifying the cards based on the type of partridge featured on each card. Kolbet says the exhibit contains a lot of history. Kolbet says the exhibit is free and open to the public during regular library hours.
