That would Christmas be like, if Christmas cards had never been invented? Prior to the year 1843, any greetings given for this holiday would have been letter-written. The first Christmas card was created that very year, 162 years ago, in England. That greeting was printed on postcard-size paper stock, but delivered in an envelope.
The inventor was Englishman Henry Cole, working as a humble civil servant in the British Patent Office. He was a man with many contacts—today we’d say he was networking—and he had grown weary of sending Christmas letters to all his friends.
To solve the problem, he commissioned an artist friend, John Calcott Horsley, to draw a pictorial greeting card that showed the feeding and clothing of the poor and destitute. Cole himself created the card’s timeless legend: "A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year to You." Besides sending the cards out, he also decided to sell copies of them.
Using lithographic printing, 1,000 copies were made and then hand-colored by a worker in that line of business, William Mason. A rule existed that civil servants were not supposed to run their own businesses on the side, so he sold his cards at a shilling each under a company he named "Felix Summerly."
Back in 1843, a shilling could purchase a small but decent amount of some goods, so this was not a cheap card to buy. Apparently they sold well, despite the price. The card was sharply criticized by the temperance societies for showing the enjoyment of red wine. There’s nothing like a little censorship to make sales take off, right?
It is believed that Cole didn’t send out any cards for the next Christmas season, but he’d lit the Christmas candle of inspiration, and the sending of cards grew in popularity over the following years.
Plain Henry Cole later became Sir Henry Cole, and was one of the great innovators during the Victorian age, founding important colleges and institutions such as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and even the common postcard.
Until 1875, Americans had to import their holiday cards from England. It was in this year that a German immigrant named Louis Prang came to the United States and set up a printing shop. He then published the first Christmas cards in this country.
Curiously, Prang’s first Christmas cards depicted flowers and birds, but no holiday scenes as we know them. His cards slowly evolved into the illustration of snow scenes, fir trees and children with toys. By 1881, Prang was printing over 5 million cards a year.
Imageless postcards were printed in
the United States as early as 1861, when a copyright to produce them was given to John P. Charlton of Philadelphia. These were for sale until 1873, when the government got into the business of selling cards.
But even prior to this, plain postcards were known to be in use. However, these were all of a strictly message nature, with no illustrations or photographs on one of the sides.
It wasn’t long before advertising postcards were being printed and sent, with the first true souvenir-style cards being
the artist-drawn ones issued in honor of
the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, in 1893.
By 1898, private mailing cards were approved by an Act of Congress, and around 1900 both photo and pictorial postcards began to appear. The ones that commemorated Christmas seemed to be the most popular. The old-fashioned, folded Christmas card declined in use.
Prior to 1907, by government order, postcards had to be printed and sent with one side for the image, and the other for the address. No area was set aside for written messages, although sometimes people sneaked in a few words on the picture side. This changed in 1907, when the divided-back postcard was authorized, with the left section of the address side reserved for a brief message.
The popular fad of collecting postcards began around this time. In 1908, the Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalog offered for sale five different postal card albums, ranging in prices from 18 cents to $2.70, and capable of holding from 24 to 304 cards. It was not an expensive hobby; cards only cost a penny or so to buy, and required only a 1 cent stamp to mail.
The printing and sending of Christmas postcards took off like wrapping paper being torn off presents on Christmas morning. Both the illustrations and messages on the cards usually reflected the approaching holiday. Here, for your enjoyment and edification, is a selection of messages from the years 1907 to 1919.
Dec. 21, 1907: To Mr. George Rowe, at Canadia, New Hampshire: "I thought as long as Walter was sending a card to Grace, I would send you one, too. May God bless you and yours, and may you both have many happy returns of this day. [From] Aunt Belle." (Would Auntie have even sent a card, unless Walter had?)
Dec. 18, 1909: To Miss Fennie Auchstetter, at West Brooklyn, Illinois: "Hello Fennie, how are you? I have got the grip now. Hope you folks are well. Hope your father is well by this time. How is mother? I will be home between Christmas and New Years. I will close now, wishing you a Merry Christmas. Yours truly, Lucy Gumand." (Nice going, Lucy. Here you have the grip, or, as it is more commonly called today, the flu, and you’re sending germs to people by mail!)
Dec. 12, 1910: To Mrs. Sibyl Harvey, at Westfield (Rural Route), Indiana: "Dear Sibyl, Hope you are all well. No wonder Lila could not go home with you, for she was married in September. Alfia is in his first year of High School, and likes it fine. Fern is teaching the same grades here that she taught last winter. It has been dry here this fall, and the wheat does not look very good. Frank is working in one of the lumber yards here. Love to all, Sarah Norton." (Chatty, aren’t you, Sarah? Hope the wheat looks better by now.)
Dec. 24, 1911: To Mrs. J.A. Buyer, at Forest Park, Illinois: "Merry Christmas to all. From your north neighbor. [From] E.M." (Couldn’t E.M. have just walked the card next door and saved a penny?)
Dec. 25, 1911: To Mrs. Spinar, at Chicago, Illinois: "Dear Miss Spinar, We received your waist and thank you very much. Wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. [From] F.M.Z." (Mrs. S. didn’t send a part of her body, but a blouse, which was then called a waist.)
Dec. 5, 1912: To Miss Frances Strand, at Moorhead, Iowa: "[From] Christiana, Norway. Dear daughter, I just got your letter and [am] so glad to hear from you. You are writing very nice, and I can read all of it. I hope `Santa Clause’ will bring you something nice for Christmas. With love, Papa." (If I know my "Clauses" right, I’ll bet Frances received something Norwegian for Christmas!)
Dec. 21, 1912: To Josephine Negarig, at Coalport, Pennsylvania: "There is enough goods in this piece of red serge to make a dress. Am very busy, not much time to think about Santa. Hope you are OK. [From] Alice." (A dress for Mrs. Claus would’ve been nice. Or maybe Santa was in need of a new suit.)
Dec. 22, 1913: To J.E. Upchurch, at East St. Louis, Illinois: "Hello, Sheik. Merry Christmas to you. Please attend, if possible, our next Trail Meeting Dec. 26. Important Business. [From] A. Ralluneller, Notary." (How do you like that? A quick "Merry Christmas," then a veiled order to attend a meeting! By the way, I always thought "sheik" was a nickname men were called only in the 1920s, during the Rudolph Valentino movie craze. Well, live and learn.]
Dec. 25, 1913: To Miss Mazie Miller, at Lanark, Illinois: "Hope you’ll have a Merry Xmas today. Arrived home, all OK yesterday eve. Had a nice trip. Rather think I’ll stay home today and help entertain our company. Hope you received your second present all OK. Hope you had a good time at the Methodist Episcopal Church yesterday eve. Hope you’re all well. Mailed this card yesterday eve. ‘Silence is golden.’ [From] U. Know." (No, I don’t know! But I "hope" I will someday.)
Dec. 9, 1914: To Miss Bernice Kriesport, at Miseramaka, Indiana: "Dear Bernice, What in the World is the matter? Have not herd from you since Nov. 20. Ar you coming for Xmas? Or ar you sick? Whe have had bad wether here, rain for over 2 weeks. Anser. [From] Granma." (I couldn’t resist leaving in "Granma’s" own special spelling.)
Dec. 17, 1914: To Miss Mazie Miller, at Lanark, Illinois: "Hello Mazie. We are all very busy this time, and only stopped to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. [From] M.+ L." (Did Mazie Miller ever receive one single card that was signed with anybody’s real name?)
Dec. 22, 1915: To Miss Mazie M. Miller, at Lanark, Illinois: "Just a thought and Xmas love for my new friend. Lovingly, A.C. Dooling. 310 Mead St. North, St. Johns, Michigan." (Finally! Someone who isn’t afraid to sign his own name! But did Mr. Dooling ever tie the knot with Miss Miller? Did she become Mrs. Mazie Dooling? Or did the distance between them cause their happy romance to slowly wither away, like winter wheat dying of thirst in the frozen fields? Perhaps we shall never know.)
Dec. 15, 1916: To Miss Minnie Ankrum, at Ridge Farm, Illinois: "Olney, Illinois. Dear Cousin, how are you? We are all well. Received the package you sent. Thought the things were all very nice. Have not seen Bessie, Jessie, and Mary Catherine yet. Jessie lives about seven miles away. [From] Your cousin Florence." (What happened here? Flo forgot to say "Merry Christmas," or "Happy New Year." Or even "Hope you’re all well.")
Dec. 21, 1918: To Miss Ethyl Nelson, at Evanston, Illinois: "Dear Ethyl, I am going to write you a letter soon. Best wishes. From B. Lile." (What? Was that it? "Best wishes?" Is that the best that B. could do here? And did B. really send her a postcard to tell her that he or she was writing her a letter? Is it my imagination, or was postcard writing becoming a dying art, after the year 1915?)
Dec. 24, 1919: To Mr. E. Emblade, at Chicago, Illinois: "With best Christmas wishes from us all. [From] Miss. M. McDermott." (Wow! This card was even shorter than the last one! Miss McDermott mailed it in Chicago. Why didn’t she just phone him? That would’ve been more personal. Looks like the heyday of the Christmas postcard was all but over.)
The best, most colorful holiday postcards came from Germany, and once they went to war in 1914, the supply of cards began to slacken in number, until they were no longer produced at all. The United States entered the war against Germany in 1917, and postcard collections languished in their albums until new collectors discovered their existence, decades later.
Folded Christmas cards have long since replaced the postcards of that bygone age. However, the postcards’ rich colors and illustrations still serve to remind us of a gentler, simpler time, when friends, relations and next door neighbors could say "Merry Christmas" or even "Hope you folks are well," to anyone in these United States, for only a few pennies, and a few best wishes.
