The Birth of Christmas Cards

Ever wondered when the first Christmas card was sent? Why? How it came to be? Sir Henry Cole, a creative soul - writer, designer, civil servant - commissioned the idea for the first official Christmas cards from artist John Calcott Horsley in London in 1843, relatively recent insofar as history goes. Cole worked under his pseudonym, Felix Summerley, and set up an "art manufacture" firm. Creative idea . . . an early entrepreneur!

That effort featured a picture of a family, including a small child, drinking wine. It was controversial yet helped Cole introduce his "Penny Posts" three years later and with that, a batch of 1000 holiday greeting cards was produced, at a cost of a shilling a piece. The mass printing was the core brilliance of this effort. The Christmas card was born and today it is a multi-billion dollar business. There are few people who do not send out some sort of holiday greeting card surrounding the Christmas and Hanukkah seasons.

The idea of holiday greetings, however, didn't truly begin in 1846. A variation on the theme has been around for a good two thousand plus years. Back in the Roman days, there were formal tablets with pagan sentiments. In 15th century Germany, religious messages of Christian origin were exchanged. After that, it took about 300 years for the idea to come back into vogue. "First-footing" in Western Germany brought folks out on New Year's Day to wish neighbors good luck. They would leave personal visiting cards, with a scribbled message on the back.

That was a logical stepping stone in the bulk creation of a universal greeting card. As in good business today, even then it was all in the "who you know." Cole was friends with Queen Victoria's husband, the Prince Consort, Albert. Albert was a German who'd recently introduced his native Christmas tree to England. The English and the Germans were apparently mixing it up and learning from each other and, between them, a new business, Christmas greeting cards, was brought to the world.

Three years later, in 1846, those first 1000 Christmas cards came out in the form of a hand-colored lithograph thanks to Sir Henry Cole. Unfortunately, and as sometimes occurs in first efforts, those 1000 holiday cards weren't as successful as Cole and his artist, John Horslely, hoped they would be. The cards didn't really sell. Disillusioned, Cole gave up on the idea and went on to other things. At that point, it seemed as if it were all over.

Not so, luckily for those of us today who wouldn't think of allowing the holiday to pass without sending out Christmas greeting cards to those we love. The old Roman idea of giving holiday gifts to the Emperor was superseded by Europe's image of St. Nicholas, a figure who every year caused great excitement in small children. Presents showed up mysteriously the night before the holiday, with parents smilingly asserting that St. Nicholas brought them. St. Nicholas became Santa Claus in that magical transference that happens over the years, and the time once again became ripe for the Christmas card to return to fashion.

This time the idea stuck. Color printing, and use of the printing press, was becoming cheaper. Ideas for mailing from one location to another broadened. Stamps weren't new; however, in a delightfully engaging twist of fate, none other than Sir Henry Cole invented a way to adhere the stamp to the mailing and by 1877 . . . "Post Early for Christmas" notices began to pop up everywhere, bearing beautiful images and holiday card messages of love to family and friends.

We've been on the Christmas card bandwagon ever since, and there's no sign of it stopping. Today, we can buy almost anything we need online, printing needs no exception. Online printing companies offer faster and more economical ways to achieve the same quality end—a lovely Christmas card and a heartwarming message. We can continue the Christmas card tradition officially set in motion over 150 years ago by Sir Henry Cole, marrying great ideas of the past with forward-thinking technology of the future.