The History of Christmas Cards
The first Christmas card known to be mass produced dates back to more than 160 years ago. It can be found among the collections of Bridwell Library at Southern Methodist University's Perkins School of Theology, which acquired their copy in 1982. Here is an image of that first Christmas card:
This was a single, non-folding lithographed card, which caused quite a controversy throughout the Victorian English society because when it was published in 1843, it shows a young child taking a sip of wine from a glass held by a woman, who probably was her mother. Only 10 of these original Christmas cards have survived the 1000 copies that were made. It has been said that Sir Henry Cole commissioned his friend, the English painter John Calcott Horsley (1802-1882) to design the card for him because he was too busy to hand write notes with the Christmas and/or New Year's greeting to family and friends which was the English tradition of the time.
The intention of the card was to make his friends aware of the need to help the destitute on that holiday. Horsley's painting, which was made into a card, showed the feeding and clothing of the poor. It depicts family and friends embracing one another, but because of the illustration of a child enjoying a sip of wine, which was considered" fostering the moral corruption of children," it drew much criticism. "A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You" was printed on that first card.
Since Cole didn't need all 1000 of the copies that were made for him, he sold the extras for one shilling each. Legend has it that Sir Henry Cole did not send any cards the next year, but the custom became popular anyway. Widespread commercial printing of Christmas cards didn't begin until the 1860s when color printing was introduced, which lowered the manufacturing costs, and consequently the price. Before that, the card had to be hand colored. Once color printing was introduced, the custom of sending printed Christmas greeting cards began to spread throughout England.
Kate Greenaway, a Victorian children's writer and illustrators Francis Brundage and Helen Clapsaddle collaborated in the late 1800s and early 1900s to design the Christmas cards of their day. Most of the Christmas cards were very elaborate, decorated with French, silk and satin. Some were cut into shapes of candles, birds, and bells, while others were shaped like fans or crescents. They even created some pop-up cards revealing tiny mangers or skaters with flying scarves flying around a mirrored pond.
For more than 30 years, Americans imported their Christmas greeting cards from England The first American Christmas card dates from about 1850 and resembles Horsley's design. In 1875, Louis Prang, who was a German immigrant, the United States, opened a lithographed shop and with only $250, published the first line of US Christmas cards. By 1881, he was producing more than 5 million Christmas cards every year. He introduced snow scenes, Christmas trees, glowing fireplaces, snowmen and children playing with toys. His beautiful craftsmanship and lithographic printing have made his cards a favorite of collectors today.
As with everything else, Christmas cards have changed dramatically since those days. They now are available in almost any category you can imagine, to fit practically any industry or interest. After the events of 9/11, patriotic Christmas cards became very popular. Businesses started wanting to include their logos and so Christmas cards with die cuts openings were made to allow the company logo to show through to the front. Die-cut Christmas cards are created so that a company name can show through to the front of the card. Religious cards have always remained popular, however for business use, many prefer more generic type of holiday cards, including snow scenes, cards with snowflakes on them, nature scenes, etc.Those who live in warm climates year round often like to rub that in to their family and friends by sending Tropical Christmas cards which have become very popular the last decade or so.
At some point during this time, Thanksgiving cards were introduced into the scene. These are popular because they are generic in nature, they cross-cultural lines, and since they can be sent earlier in the season, they are received earlier and stand out more, rather than arriving in the mail along with the flurry of Christmas cards coming from everyone else. Businesses like that, because they use greeting cards as a reminder to businesses of the services that they offer. While sending a season’s greeting with the thoughtful sentiment, they are not advertising but it does remind the receiver that they exist as a business.
In modern times, one can find Christmas cards that vary from a single flat card to a folded card with heavy embossing, foil borders, layers and ribbons, you name it and it's probably been created. Many manufacturers have come on the scene and creativity abounds when it comes to creating Christmas cards.
