Christmas Greeting Cards History
John Calcott Horsley Created the First Yuletide Cards in 1843
Christmas cards were created by John Calcott Horsley as a favor to his friend, Henry Cole, never expecting that it would become a staple of the holiday season.
John Calcott Horsely
John Calcott Horsely was born in London England in 1817. He was a nephew of the landscape painter Augustus Wall Callicott . Horsley was married twice, first to Elvira Walter and second to Rosamund Haden. He was a painter of historical genre subjects having been influenced by the painters of the Dutch seventeenth century. In the 1860's, along with F. D. Hardy, Thomas Webster, and G. B. O'Neill, he formed the Cranbrook Colony in Kent, England.
The First Christmas Cards
When John Calcott Horsely, an artist, invented the first Christmas card in 1843, and friend Henry Cole, had no idea of the impact that it would have in Britain and eventually around the world. Cole, finding himself too busy to write to his friends during the holiday season. One thousand cards were produced with the left overs being sold off by the printer. The first design showed a happy family raising a festive glass as a toast to the recipient. They were printed in black and white and then colored by hand.
Originally, the cards were expected to be vogue that would soon pass but by 1880, it had become an important part of the holiday season. Artists, writers, printers, and engravers found opportunities in the rapidly growing production of the cards.
Christmas Card Types
There were a number of different types of Christmas cards during the 1880's:
- The "trick card" featured some elements of surprise. When a page was turned, at string would be pulled, or a lever could be moved revealing the unexpected, making the card more complex that seen at first glance. Pull out flowers cards were among the most favored. One with a silken thread, opened to reveal red, white and yellow roses encased in a fan shaped fan and opened to twice its size.
- The "tab card", which consisted of two cardboard sections attached at the edges with a tab between them which enabled two different scenes ot text to be brought into view. One card which was considered daring during the Victorian period featured a young woman whose legs appeared to move as if dancing when the tab was pulled.
Christmas Card Collecting
Trick cards became collectors items and were put into scrapbooks to be shared with family and friends throughout the rest of the years. Today, there are still almost 1000 of the cards and albums which are examples of the Victorian Christmas world.
Today, the Christmas card has become a staple of the holiday season. There are hundreds of designs available some being religious, humorous, elegant or simple with just a holiday greeting inside a colorful folded card.
References:
Smith, Alison. The Victorian Nude, Manchester University Press, 1996
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