HoN wishes everyone a Blessed Christmas... May God’s blessing shine down upon you and your family this holiday season.. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The First Christmas Card... The sending of Christmas greeting cards began in the Victorian era. Although wood engravers produced prints with religious themes in the European Middle Ages, the first commercial Christmas and New Years card is believed to have been designed and printed in London, England in 1843. History That winter in 1843, Sir Henry Cole, a civil servant who helped organized the Great Exhibition and developed the Victoria and Albert Museum, was too busy to write individual Christmas greetings to his family, friends and business colleagues. He asked his friend, the painter John Callcott Horsley, to design a card with an image and brief greeting that he could mail instead. John Callcott Horsley (born 1817--died 1903), a British narrative painter and a Royal Academician, per his friend’s request, designed the very first Christmas and New Years card. Cole suggested the idea of a specially designed form of greeting to send to friends at Christmas. Eighteen (18) cards were originally, first printed by Cole. In the same year (1843) an edition of 1,000 of these Christmas cards were printed and placed on sale in London. They were printed in lithography by Jobbins of Warwick Court, Holborn, London, and hand-colored by a professional colourer named Mason. The cards were published under Sir Henry Coles nom de guerre, Felix Summerly—by his friend Joseph Cundall, of New Bond Street. That was the beginning. But in spite of its ingenuity, the first Christmas card was not an instant success, even bringing about disapproval from the temperance league who feared the card would encourage drunkenness. The following year there were other picture-makers, and the Christmas card was launched on the tide of popular favor; but it was not until the idea had grown out of favor among artistic and literary circles that it was taken up by a business man, Goodall. Charles Goodall & Son, a British publisher of visiting cards was one of the first to mass produce Christmas cards and visiting cards. In 1866 Mr. Josiah Goodall commissioned Messrs. Marcus Ward & Co., of Belfast, to lithograph, for his firm, a set of four designs by C. H. Bennett, and in the following year another set by the same artist. These, together with Luke Limners border design of holly, mistletoe, and robins, may be taken as the forerunners of today’s Christmas card. Trivia: On picture is one of the 18 cards first produced in 1843 and still known to exist today. It was auctioned by Sothebys in 2010 and sold for $7000. This particular card was sent to a Miss Rusby from an H. Vernon, produced by Sir Henry Cole and published by Summerley’s Home Treasury Office, 12, Old Bond Street, London. (Image from Daily Mail) (victoriana mentalfloss)
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 11:50:12 +0000
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