The Worlds First Christmas Card
The first Christmas cards were illustrated by John Callcott Horsley in London on the 1st of May 1843.[1][2] The picture, of a family with a small child drinking wine together, proved controversial, but the idea was shrewd: Cole had helped introduce the Penny Post three years earlier. Two batches totaling 2,050 cards were printed and sold that year for a shilling each.[3]
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Early English cards rarely showed winter or religious themes, instead favoring flowers, fairies and other fanciful designs that reminded the recipient of the approach of spring. Humorous and sentimental images of children and animals were popular, as were increasingly elaborate shapes, decorations and materials. In 1875 Louis Prang became the first printer to offer cards in America, though the popularity of his cards led to cheap imitations that eventually drove him from the market. The advent of the postcardspelled the end for elaborate Victorian-style cards, but by the 1920s, cards with envelopes had returned.
read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_card
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