Season’s Greetings! National Christmas Card Day and the Origin of Christmas Cards

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 By Emily Bontrager 

Each year people send out Christmas cards to family and friends during the holiday season. Whether it is a homemade card, one you bought at a store or a card sent online, Christmas cards have been spreading holiday cheer for decades. 

Christmas is fast approaching and on December 9, National Christmas Card Day is observed. This day marks when people should start sending out their Christmas cards to family and friends. But when did the tradition of sending cards first come about? 

The history of the first Christmas card dates back to 1843 in the United Kingdom. This is when the first commercial Christmas card was born, and these cards were first sent out by Sir Henry Cole. Sir Henry Cole worked as an assistant for Rowland Hill and played a key role in introducing the Penny Post. 

Cole had received many letters from friends and family during the holidays and came up with the idea of sending out a card instead of writing letters. Cole asked his friend John Callcott Horsley, who was an artist, to draw up a design for the first card. 

The first Christmas card was printed, and Cole sent them out to friends and family. He later tried to sell some cards, but it wasn’t until around the 1860’s that Christmas cards really took off. 

The image on the first Christmas card included a family in the middle of the card sitting around a table. On the right and left sides of the card were illustrations of Christian charity, feeding and clothing the poor. 

Each card had the message, “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You.” Two blank lines were also included on the card to write the name of the sender and the receiver. 

Years later, Christmas cards were made in the United States. 

In 1875, Louis Prang created the first Christmas cards in a print shop near Boston. These were the first cards originating in the United States. The card had a flower painted on it and the words “Merry Christmas.” 

Every year the cards grew in popularity and in 1915 the traditional cards we see today came into play. 

According to John Hanc in Smithsonian Magazine’s article, “The History of the Christmas Card,” “The modern Christmas card industry arguably began in 1915, when a Kansas City-based fledgling postcard printing company started by Joyce Hall, later to be joined by his brothers Rollie and William, published its first holiday card. The Hall Brothers company (which, a decade later, change its name to Hallmark), soon adapted a new format for the cards—4 inches wide, 6 inches high, folded once, and inserted in an envelope.” 

There are now billions of cards sold worldwide during the holiday season. Some of the earlier cards were made of paper lace and decorated with ribbons, tinsel, and colored glass. Images like angels, churches, evergreens, animals, and winter scenes were part of their designs. 

More images have been added overtime, including the nativity scene, churches, Christmas trees, Santa, country lanes, reindeer, and snowmen. Not all of the cards are Christmas images, some focus on humor. Today, families can add their own family photos and personalization to the cards. Cards can even be sent electronically instead of through the postal service. These cards can include animation and even Christmas songs. 

Christmas cards still bring the feeling of Christmas spirit into the homes of all Americans today. Whether you handwrite your cards, spend a day making them with friends or family, or if you go buy a card at a local store, each card sent brings a feeling of holiday cheer. 

During this Christmas, spread some of that holiday joy and send out cards to friends, neighbors, and family. If you do not have a lot of Christmas cards to send, reach out to local living facilities or nursing homes to see if you can drop off cards for the residents. It will surely brighten their day during this holiday season.