Day 4 – The First Christmas Cards
“A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance:” Proverbs 15:13
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 Christmas card was given to King James I of England in 1611. This was more like a large ornamental manuscript rather than a card as we think of them today. It was folded into panels so that it could be carried around.
It had a picture of a rose in the center and a Christmas and New Year message to the King and his son was written into and around the rose. Also, on the manuscript were four poems and a song. Seems rather like our cards today!
The custom of sending Christmas cards, as we know them today, was started in England in 1843 by Sir Henry Cole. He was a government worker who had helped set up the Post Office, where he was an Assistant Keeper. He wondered how it could be used more by ordinary people.
Henry had the idea of Christmas cards with his friend John Horsley, who was an artist.
They designed the first card and sold them for 1 shilling each. (That is only about 8 cents today, but in those days it was worth much more. The card had three panels. The outer two panels showed people caring for the poor and in the center panel was a family having a large Christmas dinner.
About 1000 were printed and sold. They are now very rare and cost thousands of dollars to buy nowadays.
The original cards were advertised with the slogan: “Just published, a Christmas Congratulations Card; or picture emblematical of old English festivity to perpetuate kind recollections between dear friends”
The first postal service that ordinary people could use was started in 1840 when the first ‘Penny Post’ public postal deliveries began. Before that, only very rich people could afford to send anything in the post. The new post office was able to offer a penny stamp because new railways were being built. These could carry much more post than the horse and carriage that had been used before. Also, trains could go a lot faster. Cards became even more popular in England when they could be posted in an unsealed envelope for one halfpenny which was half the price of an ordinary letter.
As printing methods improved, Christmas cards became much more popular and were produced in large numbers from about 1860. In 1870 the cost of sending a post card, and also Christmas cards, dropped to half a penny. This meant even more people were able to send cards. Christmas cards were established and year after year, people have enjoyed receiving them.
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