December 9 is National Christmas Card Day. I presume one or more greeting card companies decreed if consumers haven’t organized their holiday cards two and a half weeks out from Christmas, they better get started. Cards to acquire — notes to write — stamps to stick. Now that so many people send digital greeting cards, the timing is less important, but the day still stands on holiday trivia calendars everywhere. 

Despite the rise in e-Cards, Americans sent 1.1 billion holiday cards in 2023, and the greeting card and publishing industry was valued at $6.8 billion. 

The sometimes burdensome custom began in the 1840s when Thomas Shorrock of Leith, Scotland produced cards with a jolly face and the caption “A Gude Year to Ye.” Meanwhile, in England Sir Henry Cole commissioned 1,000 engraved holiday cards with the image of a prosperous family flanked by the poor toasting the holidays with the caption “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You.”

Christmas Cards Arrive in America

In 1875, Louis Prang produced chromolithographed cards for the American mass market. Though his cards are little known today, Prank was once the “Father of the American Christmas card.” Prank’s first card was a painting of a flower with the simple verse: “Merry Christmas.”

Hallmark, though not the only producer of greeting cards, is probably the best known greeting card company. Joyce Hall founded the Kansas City post card printing company in 1915. In 1925, the company published its first holiday card with a standard format of 4 inches wide and 6 inches tall with a fold in the middle. The card gave senders enough space for a personal message without having to write a letter.

The most popular Christmas card, and still part of the Hallmark collection, came out in 1977 with 3 angels and the simple sentiment: “God bless you, keep you and love you…at Christmastime and always.” That single card sold 34 million copies.

With so many Americans sending holiday cards, the post office issued the first Christmas stamp in 1962. It was a huge success with 1 billion copies printed and distributed.

Once upon a time, it seemed like everyone was sending and receiving holiday cards — friends, relatives, neighbors, long lost sorority sisters with nothing in common any more, and businesses of all kinds. The Tucker Company sent the card on the left in 1947. The company was advertising its Tucker 48 automobile.

In 1962, the Christmas stamp cost 4 cents. Today it costs 73 cents. During the 1950s holiday cards could be purchased for 5 or 10 cents. The cost is considerably higher today. Thus, sending holiday cards in 2024 can be costly, besides requiring time to shop for, prepare, and mail the cards.

In comparison, digital cards are less expensive and more convenient. The sender selects a design and inputs the recipients’ details, but there’s no handwritten note. An email greeting, such as I recently received on my birthday from my doctor’s office, can be completely automated — an acknowledgment without the personal touch.

Electronic communication is, by its very nature, impersonal. Advocates of paper cards point out that while digital communication is nice, paper cards can be held and displayed by the recipient, creating the illusion of a personal connection. In comparison to the two digital “cards” I mentioned above, I received a paper birthday greeting from my insurance agent. The sentiment and the agent’s name were impersonally printed. Yet, somehow the paper card seemed less automatic than an email message, if only because a person had to mail the card.

The Victorian Christmas card above with its chorus line of frogs could be fun in either format. The text reads A Hearty Christmas Greeting. Four jovial froggies a skating would go. They had asked their mama, but she’d sternly said, “No!” And they all came to grief in a beautiful row. There’s a sweet Christmas moral for one not too slow. — Just go!”

I’m not sure why four frogs skidding across the ice has a Christmas reference, unless they had a bit too much Christmas punch.

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Sandra’s Books: Sea Tigers & Merchants. Ambition, Arrogance & Pride. Saxon Heroines. Two Coins. Rama’s Labyrinth.

Illustrations & A Few Sources

Christmas card, 1880; Cole Christmas Card, 1843; Prang Christmas Cards, 1886; Christmas stamp, 1962; Tucker Corporation Card, 1947; Victorian Christmas Card. John Hanc. “The History of the Christmas Card.” Smithsonian Magazine. Dec. 9 2015. Ellen F. Brown. “Christmas Inc.: A Brief History of the Holiday Card.” JStor Daily. Dec. 20, 2015.” “Comparing Paper Cards vs E Cards for Business – The Power of Tangible Connection.” The Birthday Company. June 28, 2023.

The post Christmas Cards – Paper or Digital? first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

I grew up in a different America, one that had one black plastic rotary phone per household and one black & white family television powered by tubes. Yes, it was that long ago. Christmas trees were “live” with scraggly branches and decorated with strands of tinsel that had to be correctly placed, usually by a child. Printed holiday greetings were restricted to: Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and the neutral Seasons Greetings.

The cheerful holiday cards were supposed to be a pleasant way to wish friends and colleagues a happy holiday season. Businesses also utilized the cards so customers had a more personal connection to the firm, like this 1957 card from First National Bank. Note “Visit Us” in the upper right-hand corner.

Cards are more convenient than letters

Sir Henry Cole, founder of the Victoria & Albert Museum, came up with the idea of a commercial Christmas greeting card in 1843, because he received too many Christmas letters. Among those who could afford the postage, it was customary to exchange Christmas letters. Recipients paid for the postage upon receipt, depending on the number of letter sheets and the distance the letter traveled. In 1840 a new postage system came into effect. A self-adhesive one-penny stamp paid for by the sender allowed letters up to half-an-ounce, regardless of the distance traveled. Suddenly, members of the middle class could easily send affordable Christmas letters. 

This might seem like a clever holiday custom. Cole didn’t see it that way, because every Christmas greeting had to be answered, and he didn’t have time to write all those letters. So, he went to an artist he knew, J. C. Horsely, and asked him to sketch a portrait of a family enjoying Christmas dinner. On either side of the main picture were sketches of people helping the poor. At the bottom, the holiday greeting read: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Cole printed 1,000 copies of the drawing on stiff cardboard and sent a card to everyone who mailed him a greeting. He then sold leftover cards for 1 shilling each.

There was one problem that prevented the new custom from immediately taking off. The feasting family was drinking red wine – even the children. Victorian England had a strong Temperance Movement, and such pictures weren’t received well.

About 30 of the cards have survived, and if you would like one of them, Christie’s Auction House in London has one for sale. They expect the buyer to pay between £5-8,000. Or you might find one at Getman’s Virtual Bibliophilic Holiday Gift Fair Dec. 4-7, 2020.

The American Christmas card custom began in 1875 when Louis Prang, a Boston printer, published a postcard with a painting of a flower and a Merry Christmas message. Prang’s themes were based fanciful animals and plants. The novelty cards caught on – within 10 years, Prang sold 5 million cards each year.

The modern Christmas card industry began in 1915 when Hallmark Cards developed a card that folded in the middle and could be placed in an envelope. The message could be longer and more private than a post card without being a full-length letter.

Christmas cards can be an annual burden

Sending annual Christmas cards to friends and family near and far became a ritual of torment and delight. Many of the recipients hadn’t seen each other in years, so writing a chatty note about family and personal news was of prime importance. To send a card without a note was as much of an affront to the recipient as failing to send a card at all. But for the sender, this social requirement could be a tedious experience, especially if everyone else’s children seemed to be doing so much better than yours.

At our house, my parents wrote cards at the last possible moment so they reached their destination before Christmas. Boxes of cards sat on the dining table for at least two weeks, before each parent bit the bullet and set about doing their allotted cards. As a child, I couldn’t help but wonder why they did such an unpleasant ritual.

When cards arrived, they were scrutinized. “Louis got a promotion,” my mother would say, looking at my father. Ouch! The cards were always attractive, and became part of our holiday decor, hung over strings stretched across the wall above the fireplace. After the holiday, the cards were usually discarded, sometimes directly into the fire.

In the early 1950s, a postage stamp cost 3 cents. Ten years later, the rate had increased to 4 cents. Boxes of 25-30 cards didn’t cost much either. Even the annual letter could be streamlined. Some folks typed their letters on mimeograph stencils and produced them on the machine. Later, copiers allowed people to use special paper and add designs without getting purple ink on their fingers.

As time moved on, the inveterate card-senders of my parents’ generation had fewer folks to update on family happenings. Fashion moved to photo cards with a family portrait or photo of the children in front of the Christmas tree. Senders could get away with a short note, rather than a letter. Postage rates went up. In 1973, a postage stamp costs 8 cents; in 1993 a stamp costs 53 cents, and in 2013 the cost was 46 cents. Greeting cards also became more expensive, pushing into a $5.00 price tag for a fancy individual card. And then, of course, social media and ecards appeared. 

Facebook friends send family updates and photos on a frequent basis. Ecards are timely, don’t require long messages, and can do all sorts of things a static paper card can’t, for example, animated reindeer flying over rooftops or nuns singing Hallelujah.

Ecards are convenient: both easy to send and fun to receive, but … the personal touch and effort that goes into selecting and sending cards to special friends and family keeps the greeting card industry afloat. Millennials, in particular, like to purchase specialty cards. In today’s holiday customs, greetings are convenient again, without the burden of an annual letter.

Illustrations

Christmas Postcard 1907

First National Bank Christmas Card 1957

Sir Henry Cole

First Christmas Card, designed for Henry Cole, 1843

Two Cards by Louis Prang: Renaissance Couple & Marching Frogs

1962 Christmas Stamp

Santa Postcard 1909

Getman’s Virtual Bibliophilic Holiday Gift Fair.

Janhvi Bhojwani. “Greeting Cards are Still a Thing in the Digital Age. NPR. Feb 14, 2019.

John Hanc. “History of the Christmas Card.” Smithsonian Magazine. Dec. 9, 2015

William J. Kole. “Cheers! Or not: ‘Scandalous’ 1st Christmas Card up for Sale.” AP News. Dec. 2, 2020.

The post Christmas Cards: From Convenient Greeting to Annual Burden first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

By this time, organized veterans of the season have put up their decorations, found the grab bag gifts, outfitted their children in angel outfits for the holiday pageant, and spiked their eggnog. Now is the time to sign those holiday cards. As you look for the proper card, stamps, and addresses, you might wonder who started this custom. It was none other than Sir Henry Cole who commissioned John Calcott Horsely to create the first Christmas greeting card in 1843.

The cheery picture shows three generations of a generic middle class London family toasting the recipient – I bet all this time you thought Kodak invented the family photo card – I certainly did.  On either side of the colorized happy family you see them providing charity to the “deserving poor.” Mr. Cole printed 2,050 cards that sold for one shilling each.

Late Victorians preferred more fanciful cards with bits of lace and botanical themes. This card with its lacy border, basket of flowers, and holly sprigs reminds the recipient that spring will return in due course.

This card with it’s parade of marching frogs was created by Louis Prang in 1873. A gentle reminder that Christmas is Dec. 25^th.

Cards carry many messages.  During World War II, Uncle Sam and Santa joined forces to advise adults that an album of war stamps was the perfect gift for every young American.

Commercialization took off after World War II.  Cards became a both a business and social necessity. At one time it was expected to send cards to people both near and far.  Christmas card lists were kept – and woe to the recipient who did not reciprocate. Colorful yarn was often strung across the wall so these cards could be displayed for every visitor to see. As if to say, “Look how well connected I am.”  Frequently, the yarn broke and a child was summoned to restring it.

The fashion for sending holiday greetings via snail mail is falling out of use – much to the dismay of the greeting card industry and the United States Postal Service.  Both businesses once anticipated a final end-of-year boost.  It probably still exists, but not on the same scale.

For those of you who just remembered you have to send a few snail mail cards, the mailing deadlines for Dec. 25^th deliveries are as follows:

International First Class Mail – oops, you missed it. The last day was Dec. 9.

Domestic First Class Mail – you have until Friday, Dec. 20

Further details can be found on the USPS website: https://www.usps.com/holiday/holiday-shipping-dates.htm

I like holiday cards, both to send and to receive, as long as they represent good will.  With or without an extra message, those cards tell the recipient. “Hey, when I think of holiday plans, I think of you, and I hope you are enjoying the season.” Isn’t that the real point of sending cards?

In Hawai`i, Mele Kalikimaka translates as Merry Christmas.

 How do you feel about the custom of sending holiday greetings? Is it a chore or a joy? Leave a comment.

Featured image depicts Santa, an angel, and a sleeping child. Dated 1900, it is in the US Public Domain, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

The post WHY SEND HOLIDAY CARDS? first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.