Calendar Holders
Osborne’s calendar holders consisted on two basic type, the free standing perpetual calendar which had cards to cover every possible date and could be used year after year, and the hanging calendar holder which used a standard printed calendar covering only one year (this was in a booklet form and would need a replacement booklet for each subsequent year.
The free standing calendar holders were produced in a number of shapes and sizes and the calendar card which were supplied from an outside source were either of printed card or a more durable celluloid*. What factors determined which type of card was used, and whether the type of card relates to any particular time period is not known.
The hanging booklet form of calendar could be purchased yearly at any good stationers after the original was out of date.
Unfortunately the calendar holders were never marked with a date so we do not know for sure when they were first made but one can assume that it was between 1928 and 1945.
*Celluloid is a plastic made from cellulose nitrate and camphor. Generally regarded to be the first thermoplastic, it was first created in 1856 and can be easily molded and shaped. There are suggestions that it was first made as a replacement for ivory. Celluloid is highly flammable and is no longer widely used, apart from table tennis balls.
