Christmas Cards

A Christmas card is a greeting card sent as part of the traditional celebration of Christmas in order to convey between people a range of sentiments related to Christmastide and the holiday season.  

People have been sending Christmas greetings to each other for hundreds of years. The first recorded use of ‘Merry Christmas’ was in a Christmas letter sent in 1534. The first known item that looked a bit like a Christmas card was given to King James I of England (who was also King James VI of Scotland) in 1611.

The first documented commercial Christmas Card was made and sold in London, in England in 1843. It was the idea of Sir Henry Cole, a senior civil servant who had helped to set-up the new ‘Public Record Office’ (now called the Post Office), where he was an Assistant Keeper.  

A prominent educator and patron of the arts, Sir Henry traveled in the elite, social circles of early Victorian England, and had the misfortune of having too many friends.

During the holiday season of 1843, those friends were causing Cole much anxiety.

The problem was their letters. An old custom in England, the Christmas and New Year’s letter had received a new impetus with the recent expansion of the British postal system and the introduction of the “Penny Post,” allowing the sender to send a letter or card anywhere in the country by affixing a penny stamp to the correspondence.

Now, everybody was sending letters, and Cole was a busy man. As he watched the stacks of unanswered correspondence, he fretted over what to do. “In Victorian England, it was considered impolite not to answer mail,” says Ace Collins, author of Stories Behind the Great Traditions of Christmas. “He had to figure out a way to respond to all of these people.” (Smithsonian)

Cole went to an artist friend, John Callcott Horsley, and asked him to create a sketch of an average family at their Christmas dinner, then took Horsley’s illustration and had a thousand copies made by a London printer on stiff cardboard 5 1/8 x 3 1/4 inches in size. At the top of each was the salutation, “To: _____” allowing Cole to personalize his responses, which included the generic greeting “A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year To You”.

And the modern Christmas Card was born.         

Following the success of the first printed Christmas card, the tradition spread rapidly. It inspired others to create their own designs, leading to the emergence of a thriving greeting card industry. Today, sending Christmas cards remains a cherished tradition worldwide, with countless designs and styles available to suit every taste and preference.

Of course, the Christmas Card of the twenty-first century is a very far cry from what Sir Henry had created. People have recognized the convenience and personal touch of sending thoughtful greetings through a printed card that can be made of an endless list of materials and sent by post or electronically through the Internet where, when and to whom you want.  

The most original card I ever received was one with a delightful twist – a card embedded with seeds to be planted after receipt. People still send physical Christmas cards as it is considered a thoughtful and personal way to connect with loved ones and friends during the holiday season. However, the digital age has also popularized electronic Christmas cards and social media greetings.