History Of Christmas Cards

Have you ever wondered where Christmas cards originated from or why? The very first Christmas card was designed by John Callcott Horsley in December 1843 in London, for his dear friend Sir Henry Cole. Around Christmas time, Sir Henry would write greetings and best wishes to his family and friends. This is also called a Christmas letter. Through all of his ventures, Sir Henry had little time to create such letters to his friends and family and so asked John Callcott Horsley to create something that was on beautiful colored paper with a Christmas theme and could be duplicated many times over. Horsley agreed and so Christmas cards were then born. Christmas cards at first were hand colored and hand written. They were printed on stiff cardboard and had the all well known verse of "A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You." As years went by Christmas cards became more festive and colorful. They had an ivy border with grapes and vine leaves. Holly did not appear on Christmas cards until late 1848. It also featured a family having a Christmas Day meal as they toast to their friends and family with glasses of red wine. Other designers quickly followed Horsley's design of Christmas cards. In 1848, artist William Maw Egley designed a card similar to Horsley's, also with the familiar frame of vines and grapes. Egley's card was the first to feature the mistletoe and holly on the Christmas cards. His greeting

was also the same, but he chose to use the old spelling of "Christmass" meaning "Christ's Mass". The first printed Christmas cards were printed using a lithography process. This process was a way to reproduce colorful paintings of artists at the time. By the 1850's there were improved printing techniques and that allowed more cards to be reproduced for less cost. As the years went by, more and more artists were creating Christmas cards and by 1862, there was a huge selection of designs to choose from in all sorts of shapes, designs, colors and holiday seasons. By 1880 Christmas cards were a highly successful business. Sales figures were in the millions and still are to this day.