It’s a thing during the holidays: christmas cards. Every year, millions are sent around the world, via mail or online. And this made me wonder while standing in line during some christmas shopping: what was the first christmas card ever?
Where was the first Christmas card made, printed and sent? How did it look like and when did this all happen? A bit of searching and reading gave me the answer, which I’m sharing with you in this blog post.
What did the first Christmas card look like? (picture)
But before talking about the card itself, let me show you a picture of the first Christmas card. This is how the first commercial Christmas card ever sent looks like:
Christmas cards are used to send your holiday greetings to your family, friends and other loved ones. I think it’s a nice thing to do. You show appreciation to somebody because you did the effort to find a card and to write a personal message on it. Especially during the dark winter days, this is a welcome surprise in your mailbox. I also put the cards I receive on a shelf in my living room so it reminds me of the kind messages I received.
Where and when was the first Christmas card made?
What was the first Christmas card? One of the earliest examples of a kind of holiday card in Europe were wood carvings. During the Middle Ages, wood carvings with religious themes were made. This decorative wood would be given as a kind of Christmas gift or card.
But the history of the real first Christmas card is found in the beginning of the 19th century, in Victorian England. It was Sir Henry Cole, an Englishman, who was known as an inventor, art lover and industrial entrepreneur, who was the inventor of the first Christmas card ever made.
Sir Henry Cole was looking for an easy way to send a holiday greeting to a lot of people. That’s why he talked about it with one of his friends: John Callcott Horsley.
Who designed the first Christmas card?
John Callcott Horsley was also an Englishman, known for his paintings and illustrations. After Sir Henry Cole asked him, he went to work to design the first commercial Christmas card. The first edition would be printed in no less than 1000 cards.
But what did the first Christmas card look like? Well, if you look closely, you will see that a lot is happening.
On the sides, there is a clear message depicted: give to the poor and help them. On the left side, food is given to them. On the right side, clothes are donated. These are still the most common acts of kindness during the harsh winter months and it’s nice to see that the first holiday card sends this message to the people.
This message of helping the poor was especially popular because of Charles Dickens book ‘A Christmas Carol’ which was published in 1843. It’s not unlikely that John Calcott Horlsey was inspired by this book.
What year was the first Christmas card printed and sent?
The decade that the first Christmas card was sent in the UK was the ‘50 of the 19th century, in the US it was the ‘70 of the 19th century.
The year the first Christmas card was printed and sent in the UK was 1843, in the US 1875.
The other main message of the card is people that are having fun while eating and drinking. If you look closely, you can see a little girl, sitting in the centre, who is also drinking a glass of wine.
The girl drinking a glass of red wine, like all the adults around here, is not that strange during a big family gathering. Better to introduce alcohol to your children in a safe environment than not, no? But in Victorian England, a child drinking alcohol stirred up a lot of controversy.
Victorian England was not a big fan of children drinking alcohol, or connecting drinking of alcohol to an important christian festivity. They were also not that big of a fan of the thought of giving to the poor.
But this controversy did not stop the popularity of the first Christmas card. The second year, no less than 25.000 cards were printed!
First Christmas card for sale
If you are looking for the first Christmas card for sale, you should have deep pockets. From the original 1.000 cards printed and sent in 1843, only some 30 are still known.
In 2020, auction house Christie’s estimated the value of the first Christmas cards around 6.000 £.
