Christmas
Once again it's Christmas, and to celebrate the season of good will, let's begin by looking at how Christmas cards developed through the years.
Each year, hundreds of thousands of people all over the world send and receive Christmas cards. But have you ever wondered when and where the first card was produced? You might think that exchanging cards at Christmas is a very ancient custom - in fact it is barely 150 years old.
The idea of exchanging illustrated greetings and presents is, however, ancient. The Egyptians gave each other symbolic gifts such as inscribed scarabs to celebrate the New Year, while the Romans exchanged golden laurels or strenae (sometimes made of olive branches). Lamps bearing the inscription `May the New Year be happy and lucky for you' were also given.
In Europe in the fifteenth century prints were produced by wood engravers that were in effect the prototype of the modern Christmas card. These were inscribed with various legends generally wishing a Happy New Year. Printed greetings, especially from merchants, were commonplace in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, but they were not true Christmas cards.
The first commercial Christmas card as such was produced in Britain in 1843 by Henry Cole, founder of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. The hand-coloured print was inscribed with the words `A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to You'. It was horizontally rectangular in shape, printed on stout cardboard by lithography. The design was divided into three parts by rustic poles and vines. The centre part showed a family engaging in the festivities of Christmas, while the two side panels showed scenes of Christmas charity. Space was left at the top to record the name of the recipient and at the bottom to record the name of the sender.
Throughout the Victorian period most of the cards tended to be New Year cards rather than Christmas cards - those with puritanical traditions found it hard to associate any kind of merriment with Christmas as a religious festival. From 1860 onwards the demand for Christmas cards they grew steadily. The size of the cards was increased and the designs became more elaborate; turkeys, fireside scenes, plum puddings, etc., being popular themes.
By 1880 the popularity of Christmas cards was such that manufacturers were able to offer more attractive rewards to artists engaged on designs, and thus provide an incentive to raise the artistic standards of the cards. In Britain, prizes of several hundreds pounds were offered for original designs, and many prominent artists of the time had their work reproduced on Christmas cards.
1880 was also the year in which the now familiar `Post early for Christmas' pleas were issued to the public by the Postmaster-General. Since then, cards have progressed by leaps and bounds until the present day when we see the Christmas card not only being produced by manufacturers for profit, but also by charities, for good causes.
Vocabulary
scarab replica of beetle used in Ancient Egypt as symbol of life after death
strenae twigs brought from the grove of goddess Strenia, exchanged at New Year by Romans as symbol of good luck
stout thick
rustic from the countryside
charity kindness, often gifts of money, clothing, etc., to poor
recipient person who receives
turkeys birds traditionally eaten at Christmas in Britain
plum pudding Christmas pudding (boiled puddings made largely with raisins and currants)
pleas requests
by leaps and bounds very quickly