Christmas Cards

First commercially produced Christmas card - 1843

Christmas cards may be newer than you'd guess. Although I've found mention of a large amount of Christmas cards sent out by wealthy families in colonial times, research shows that the first Christmas card came in London in 1843. They were commissioned by Sir Henry Cole and illustrated by John Callcott Horseley. 2,050 cards were made in two printings and sold for a shilling each. Cole had helped introduce the penny post in 1840, and he hoped the Christmas cards would encourage its use.

1950's Christmas card

Christmas cards began selling in America in 1874. By 1880, one card manufacturer was producing over five million cards a year. Through most of the 1900's, production and sales continued to climb. However, toward the end of the century and into the 21st, the popularity of cards started to decline. Even with this decline, about 1.9 billion Christmas cards were sent in 2005.

WW II Christmas card

Today, however, most people have quit sending Christmas cards. Are you one of them? I'm sure, you, like me, have probably seen a big slow down in the number of Christmas cards you receive, especially through the regular mail. Yet, there are those who collect Christmas cards, and some of their collections are huge and worth a lot of money, especially if they include some of the older or rare cards. Queen Mary was a collector, and her collection is housed in the British Museum. I have plans to clean out the attic at my mother's house this summer, and I wouldn't be surprised to find her cards from the 40's on. It will be like a treasure hunt.

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