Have you ever wondered why families make christmas cards, or why corporate christmas cards have become a norm to foster better relationships with other businesses. Perhaps, this may come to you as a surprise but this card giving custom dates back to a time when thinking what to write on the card is the least of your worries. Nowadays many themed cards such as construction christmas cards can be bought, let’s see where it all began.
It started in the post office
The tradition of exchanging Christmas cards during the holiday season has begun in the island of britain on 1843 by Sir Henry Cole. He was a senior public servant (working for the government) who had assisted in the set up of the new ‘Public Record Office’ (or more commonly known simply as the post office), where had been given a role as an assistant keeper, and became curious if the office that mostly catered to the nobles and the rich merchants could be used by common folk.
Sir Henry had the thought of christmas cards with his close associate John Horsley, who worked as an artisan. They had made the first ever christmas card and sold them at the extremely low price of 1 shilling each. (If converted to today’s currency, that would only cost only 5 pennies or 8 cents today, but at that time, given the complex process of printing out any form of literature, would cost way much more.) The card they made was divided into three panels. The two panels on the outermost portrayed people sharing and giving to the poor and in right on the middle panel was a portrait of a family celebrating the most important meal of christmas – christmas dinner. While some people did not like the card simply because it had a child being passed a glass of wine(underage drinking was already considered taboo back then), it still managed to sell almost a thousand copies which was monumental considering the situation. These cards became collectors items that could fetch you several hundreds of folds over the original value for which it was sold. The very first ever christmas card had a two choices for slogan that said either picture emblematical of old English festivity to perpetuate kind recollections between dear friends or just published, a christmas congratulations card.
Penny Post
The first ever postal service office that common folk could avail the services of has been established in 1840 when a new post office, the penny post public postal have began delivering mail. Sir Henry Cole assisted to disseminate knowledge about the said penny post. There was a long time before that when only very rich people, which would be limited to people with titles or have amassed wealth, could afford to send letters of anything via the post offices. The new post office for the poor was able to give a stamp worth only a penny because new railways as a more efficient way of transport have been built and have become the main transportation for the post office. The locomotive engines could carry so much more than the horses drawn carriage ever could. The trains are significantly faster as well and they are much cheaper. The christmas cards had then become an even more popular custom in britain when they could already be posted in envelopes that need not be sealed for one half penny, which was then half the price of an ordinary letter.
As time went by printing methods have improved and christmas cards became much more popular and almost the norm. They were produced in large quantities for a time and especially during 1860. A decade later, the cost of sending a christmas card, and generally, any form of greeting card, dropped from one to half a penny. This allowed more and more people to join in the tradition of christmas card giving.
One of the most prominent examples of christmas cards was an engraved card made by the the artist William Egley. He illustrated some of famous Charles Dickens’s books which are currently on display in the British Museum. By the turn of the 19th century, this tradition swept all across Europe and had its lasting effect felt in Germany.
The first ever christmas cards normally have pictures of the nativity scene on them which. During the late Victorian times, the robin, a common bird found across britain, and snow-scenes became popular. These were the times when the postmen were nicknamed robin postmen simply because of the red uniforms they wore resembled the bird. Snow scenes, which is now often associated with the christmas season, were only popular then because it was a horrible reminder for people of the terrible winter that happened in the UK in 1836.
Christmas cards in the US
Christmas cards first arrived in the shores of United States of America in the late 1840s. However, they were way too expensive for most people and thus they could not afford them as a regular holiday season gift. It was not until 1875 when Louis Prang, a printer who came to the US from Germany introduced the penny post concept before christmas cards caught on. He had worked on the first wave of christmas cards in the british mainland and started mass producing cards so more people could afford to buy them as the british people did. His first christmas cards introduced pictures that featured flowers, plants, and children. Later in the year 1915, John C. Hall and two of his siblings manufactured christmas cards that would be the hallmark of the common christmas cards such as construction christmas cards we have today.
Today, christmas cards have evolved into all sorts. Some of them contain pictures of jokes, winter pictures, Santa Claus or romantic scenes of life in past times. Some cards are themed like construction christmas cards to give to people who work in construction. Charitable institutions will often sell their own versions of Christmas Cards as a way to raise money for their causes. Corporations also benefit from the tradition through so-called corporate christmas cards. These are often given to both the employees of the company from the executives of to other businesses they are partner with.
