Regular readers of this column will know, or at least suspect, that I enjoy traditions and am a bit “old school” about certain things. Christmas cards are one of those things. To me choosing, ordering, writing and mailing old-fashioned holiday cards is part of the festive season and I enjoy keeping in touch with people on both sides of the pond this way.
Apparently, I am not alone because according to Bloomberg, over 1 billion Christmas cards are sent every year in the USA in spite of the rise of digital communications. Approximately 69% of Americans choose to send out Christmas cards each year and as a seasoned member of the Gen X generation (born between 1965 and 1980), I am pleased to see that millennials (born between 1981-1996) are apparently sending more cards than anyone else.
As I often do, I turn to history on a subject that interests me, and I discovered the origin of sending out Christmas cards began in early Victorian England. Back in the land of my birth, there was a custom to send Christmas and New Year’s letters, and this was rapidly expanding due to the introduction of Britain’s “Penny Post,” allowing the sender to send a letter or card anywhere in the country by affixing a penny stamp to the correspondence. In 1843, Sir Henry Cole, a prominent patron of the arts and founder of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, was worried about finding the time to send and reply to letters from his many friends. The postal system was the way people communicated in the British Isles and ignoring letters was considered very rude – that generation’s version of not replying to personal emails or returning phone calls or texts today. Most people were too well mannered to “ghost” others back in those days and Sir Henry, who was a very polite and proper gentleman, came upon a novel solution to his dilemma. He approached an artist friend J.C. Horsley to design a card and had 1,000 copies made by a London printer which he could personalize with a handwritten note. These postcard style cards featured images of traditional English families feasting and helping the poor and coincided with the publication of Charles Dickens’ book, A Christmas Carol. Sir Henry Cole’s printed greetings cards were a big hit and are considered the first commercial Christmas cards, and around the same time, Queen Victoria sent the first official royal Christmas card.
Over 30 years later in the USA, Louis Prang, a Prussian immigrant with a print shop near Boston, is credited with creating the first US Christmas card in 1875. It was very different in style to the English designs and featured a flower. Appreciation of the quality and the artistry of the cards grew in the late 1800s, spurred in part by competitions organized by card publishers offering cash prizes for the best designs. People soon began collecting Christmas cards and new designs were reviewed in newspapers, like books or films.
The modern Christmas card industry kicked off in Kansas City in 1915, when a postcard printing company started by Joyce Hall published its first holiday card. The Hall Brothers Company (which, a decade later, changed its name to Hallmark) soon adapted a new standard format for the cards—4 inches wide, 6 inches high, folded once, and inserted in an envelope. They designed this “book” format card to give people more room to write personalized note and this remains industry standard today. In the 1930s, images of Santa Claus, scenes from Bethlehem and the like became popular and remain with us today. In 1962 the first Christmas stamp was introduced by the U.S. Post Office and was so popular that additional supplies had to be ordered to keep up with demand. E-cards started appearing in the 1990s, now making up over 20% of all Christmas cards, with around 500 million sent globally each year.
It took a while for the Christmas card to become a central part of our holiday celebrations and even longer for holiday cards to include New Year’s, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and other holidays. When I first came to the USA, I was surprised to see how many people sent cards with photos of their family – this was not part of the British tradition I had grown up with although it is now very popular in the UK as well. The first known ‘personalised’ Christmas Card was sent in 1891 by Annie Oakley, the famous sharpshooter and star of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show, who used a photo of herself to create her holiday card. That sounds much more exotic than these days as frazzled parents worry about finding time for a professional studio photo or getting their kids all smiling and the dog’s eyes open at the same time!
There is a lot more information at, www. britannica.com, www. smithsonianmag.com and www.history.com As we all race around getting organized for the festive season, I will leave you with a quote from Santa Claus in the movie Polar Express: “Just remember, the true spirit of Christmas lies in your heart.”
God bless America and try to enjoy your holiday preparations!
Lesley grew up in London, England and made Georgia her home in 2009. She can be contacted at lesley@francis. com or via her full-service marketing agency at www.lesleyfrancispr.com.