Christmas in July 2022 - Day 3

 

CIJ day 3

Christmas cards - Tradition – where / when did it start?

You can listen to the History of Christmas Cards (kriss-kringle.com), with soft Christmas music in the background – I found it very interesting.

From the same site I found this:  “The custom of sending Christmas cards was started in the UK in 1843 by Sir Henry Cole. He was a senior civil servant (Government worker) who had helped set-up the new 'Public Record Office' (now called the Post Office), where he was an Assistant Keeper, and wondered how it could be used more by ordinary people.

Sir Henry had the idea of Christmas Cards with his friend John Horsley, who was an artist. They designed the first card and sold them for 1 shilling each. (That is only 5p or 8 cents today(!), but in those days it was worth much much more.) The card had three panels. The outer two panels showed people caring for the poor and in the center panel was a family having a large Christmas dinner! Some people didn't like the card because it showed a child being given a glass of wine!

The first Christmas card in the US is credited to Louis Prang who owned a print shop near Boston. Prang’s card was a painting of a flower and simply read “Merry Christmas”. This was a more subtle approach that defined the first generation of American Christmas cards. It also made it easier for mass-producing cards, allowing more people to buy them.

The Card as We Know it

The cards as we know them today – with a fold down the middle and an envelope – didn’t appear until the early 20th century. Frustrated with the choices available, the Hall Brothers, later known as Hallmark, created the folded card concept.

They had realised that people didn’t have enough room to write everything they wanted to say on a postcard-type greeting. Their new format, which became the standard for greetings cards, was ideal for those who didn’t want to write an entire letter.

There is much more information on that website if you are interested.