Season's Greetings

Many of us send holiday cards to friends and family during the holiday season but it wasn’t always an accepted practice. In the 1840s, Puritans were outraged by the first known Christmas card because it depicted people indulging in drinks. By the 1870s, holiday cards made their way to North America and grew in popularity.

The world’s first known holiday card, from 1843.

Photo: The British Postal Museum & Archive.

Around the holidays, many of us have mantles and windowsills full of holiday cards from family and friends. Some of us may have even gathered family together for a festive photo to send out with a season’s greetings card. For many, it’s tradition. But how did it become tradition?

English civil servant and inventor Henry Cole is credited with sending the world’s first known holiday card in 1843. He hired English illustrator John Callcott Horsley to design a Christmas card to send to his friends. Cole printed 1,000 copies of the card and sold them, making them a luxury item for the wealthy. The card depicts a group of people smiling and enjoying drinks and food, which outraged Puritans. To offset this imagery, both sides of the card showed charitable scenes of people giving clothes and food to the less fortunate.

By 1860, sending holiday cards was popular in Britain; many had warmed up to the idea of joyful holiday greetings. Also, technological advances in printing lowered the cost of cards and made them more accessible to the public.

In 1875, lithographer Louis Prang, a German immigrant living in the United States, made his first commercial Christmas card in the U.S. — a simple flower design with the words “Merry Christmas.” His cards took off — by 1881 he was allegedly printing five million cards a year. Over time his cards had more traditional holiday designs. Eventually the market was flooded with German-imported holiday cards, forcing Prang out of the business.

Though there’s no precise date or design for Canada’s first holiday card, the first card likely made its way to our country in the late 1800s when the postal system was becoming more widespread.

The First World War closed off the market from German imports and allowed the American greeting card industry to grow.

Throughout the decades, the designs of cards changed to reflect the nation’s interests and concerns at the time.

A typical Christmas card from 1920.

 

1920s — Holiday cards were often handpainted and many had an Art Deco look.

1930s — Holiday card designs insinuated the impact of Prohibition and the Depression.

1940s — Holiday cards often reflected patriotism and peace.

1950s — Designs began to draw on themes of art, cars, and television.

1960s — Holiday cards featured psychedelic colours and peace symbols.

1970s — Themes of nostalgia and home were common.

1980s — Holiday cards had a slimmer Santa to align with the fitness craze at the time.

1990s — Holiday cards had new age designs and drew on themes high tech and technology.

21st Century — Holiday cards nowadays tend to be heartfelt and sophisticated.