The world’s first Christmas card caused some controversy during the Victorian era because it depicted a small child drinking wine. …
Christmas and greeting cards, which have been around for more than 100 years, are innovations for which we have to thank the Victorians.
The Christmas tree was introduced into England in the 1840s by Prince Albert, the Prince Consort. At around the same time, the first commercial Christmas card was published.
The world’s first printed Christmas card
In 1843, Henry Cole (later Sir Henry) had the idea of sending a small printed card to his friends and suggested to his friend, John Callcott Horsley (also known as J C Horsley), that he should design it.
The world’s first commercially produced Christmas card
The picture shows a happy Victorian family toasting absent friends and has two flanking side panels depicting scenes of charity to the poor.
The world’s first Christmas card caused some controversy during the Victorian era because it depicted a small child drinking wine.
The inscription below the picture reads ‘A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year’.
Two batches totaling 2,050 cards were printed after Sir Henry had sent his quota to his friends, the rest were sold at one shilling each – almost a day’s pay for a labourer. It was the most popular card of the Victorian Era.
In 2001, one of the eighteen original cards which are known to be still in existence was sold at auction for £22,500. This card belonged to Cole’s grandmother who received it in 1843.
Old-Fashioned Santa Claus Postcards in Full Color: 24 Ready-To-Mail Cards by Suzanne Presley (on Amazon)
First Known Christmas Greeting Card
The first known Christmas card was sent by Michael Maier, a German physician and counsellor to Rudolf II Habsburg who was relocating to England, to both King James I and his son Prince Henry in 1611. It was hand-made and incorporated a Rosicrucian rose, with the words:
“A greeting on the birthday of the Sacred King, to the most worshipful and energetic lord and most eminent James, King of Great Britain and Ireland, and Defender of the true faith, with a gesture of joyful celebration of the Birthday of the Lord, in most joyand fortune, we enter into the new auspicious year 1612”
Christmas Cards For Everyone
In 1848, William Maw Egley published a similar card, and in 1851 the firm of Petter and Galpin added Christmas cards to their list of Christmas stationery and prints.
By the 1860s cards featured the now traditional robin and holly. Chromolithography and colour printing by the Baxter process reduced costs and cards soon became widely available.
Victorian and Edwardian cards are easy to obtain on eBay
American Christmas card, 1850
Early cards were generally small rectangular pasteboards, getting larger towards the 1870s. Folding cards did not appear until the 1880s, although concertina cards could be seen in the 1870s. Many makers copied Valentine card designs, keeping the lace inserts and cushioning and substituting season’s greetings.
Stage-coach travel was extremely difficult in winter, and two disasters in heavy snow in the 1830s inspired artists to produce engravings of coaches stranded in deep drifts. When Christmas card manufacturers began using these prints for their cards, the Post Office and coach proprietors sought to ban them.
As the scene sold Christmas cards, manufacturers toned down the pictures, lessening the depth of snow and adding scenes of conviviality. Early British cards rarely showed religious or winter themes, instead favoring flowers, fairies and other fanciful designs that reminded the recipient of the approach of spring.
Humorous and sentimental images of children and animals were popular, as were increasingly elaborate shapes, decorations and materials.
Other greetings cards celebrated Easter and the New Year, often with a verse on the back, and followed the Christmas card format.
Christmas card by Louis Prang, showing a group of anthropmorphized frogs parading with banner and band.
At Christmas 1873, the lithograph firm Prang and Mayer began creating greeting cards for the popular market in Britain. Prang and Mayer began selling the Christmas card in America in 1874, thus becoming the first printer to offer cards in America.
By the 1880s, Louis Prang was producing over five million cards a year by using the chromolithography process of printmaking
The introduction of the picture postcard in 1894 gave manufacturers another string to their bow and seasonal and birthday cards were produced. Many cards were imported from the Continent and were embossed and gilded, or appliqued with velvet, silk or tinsel.
Victorian birthday cards were often decorated with bows. Cards for the family, with inscriptions such as ‘To my dear Father’, might very well have a neat deckle-edge.
Hallmark Cards was established in 1913 by brothers Joyce and Rollie Hall to market their Christmas cards. The Hall brothers produced greeting cards that were more personalized, and they reached commercial success when World War I increased demand for cards to send to soldiers.
The World Wars brought cards with patriotic themes.
Idiosyncratic “studio cards” with cartoon illustrations and sometimes risque humor caught on in the 1950s.
Nostalgic, sentimental, and religious Christmas cards continued in popularity, and, in the 21st century, reproductions of Victorian and Edwardian cards are easy to obtain.
Collectors of Early Christmas Card should watch for …
The variety of cards provides the collector with a wide choice. There is, for instance, a fine selection of novelty cards.
Shaped and cut-out cards were issued in the 1890s. Christmas cards were in the shape of plum puddings, angels or stars, while greetings cards appeared as flowers, leaves, children, fans and so on. These cut-outs were often sprinkled with glitter made from glass or shell.
Humorous punning cards were popular, such as those showing a turkey captioned ‘Hope we shall meat at Christmas’. Cards from the 1870s show dancing Christmas puddings, and joints of meat or bottles of beer that have come to life.
Animated or mechanical cards had tabs and strings that fitted into the design, transforming what appeared to be a simple folding card into a superb pop-up scene of flowers and butterflies, choirs of angels or cherubs, or flights of birds.
Some cards were made with layers mounted on paper ‘springs’ opening out to give a three dimensional effect to the scene. Pulling a string or turning a disc revealed a ‘hidden’ message, or a present stowed under a Christmas tree.
Some cards were in the shape of a cross, which folded flat to be inserted into an envelope. When unfolded, the card was seen to have a different picture on each section. Cardboard fans also folded flat for ease of delivery but when opened out they revealed pictures and verses on each division.
An early 20th Century “Hold To Light” Christmas Card
Perhaps the most sought-after novelty cards are the ‘hold-to-light’ cards (links to eBay search).
These either had cut-out translucent layers which were visible when viewed against a light, or were ‘transparencies’ which revealed a scene that changed and/or changed colour when held up to the light.
Old-Fashioned Santa Claus Postcards in Full Color: 24 Ready-To-Mail Cards by Suzanne Presley (on Amazon)
Early Christmas Cards with Religious Themes
Early religious cards were rare, but in the 1890s Raphael Tuck produced a range featuring angels or the manger. These were of thick pasteboard, and some were mechanical, while others opened out to show Nativity scenes.
Frances Brundage illustrated Christmas card, circa 1910
Frances Brundage produced works for Raphael Tuck & Sons with an emphasis on attractive and endearing Victorian children. The firm of Caswell specialized in cards with scenes from the Holy Land.
Folded cards appeared in the 1880s. They were often elaborate with silk fringes and tassels and scalloped edges. Silk ribbons and bows came into vogue in the late 1880s.
New Year cards often featured flowers – a prelude to the delights of spring while Easter was symbolized with lilies, eggs and rabbits.
Since the 19th century, many people have chosen to make their own Christmas cards, to save money, as an artistic or family endeavour, or in order to avoid the commercialism associated with Christmas cards.
Victorian and Edwardian cards are easy to obtain on eBay
Old-Fashioned Santa Claus Postcards in Full Color: 24 Ready-To-Mail Cards by Suzanne Presley (on Amazon)
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