by Ruth Belena

Created on: December 20, 2008

The first Christmas card was produced in 1843. Until then, the main way to communicate with distant relatives, and old friends, was to write a letter, sending good wishes and greetings at Christmas, but a few individually hand drawn cards were already being sent.

Henry Cole (1808 - 1882) worked in the British Civil Service for fifty years. At one time he was involved in postal reform, and he assisted Sir Rowland Hill in the development of the first national postage stamp system.

Henry Cole also had a great interest in art and design. He helped to organize regular exhibitions, and was partially responsible for setting up the Great Exhibition of 1851, at the original Crystal Palace in London. He also helped to establish two art museums in London, and these eventually formed the museum now known as the Victoria and Albert.

In the 1840s, Henry Cole decided that his busy life did not allow enough time for writing personal letters to all his family and friends, at Christmas, so he had the idea of commissioning a design for a mass produced card. He chose John Calcott Horsley, rector of the Royal Academy of Arts, and a well known illustrator for Punch magazine, to design the first printed card with a Christmas message.

This was the first commercial Christmas card ever to be produced. The Christmas greeting formed part of the front illustration, and it read "A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year To You".

Pictures on the front of the first Christmas card showed the poor and needy being given food and clothing, alongside a happy scene of a family enjoying their Christmas celebrations.

Exactly one thousand Christmas cards were printed to the same design, using the process of lithography. Each card was colored by hand. A few of the original cards still exist, and one of these recently sold in London for 8,500 (around $17,000). Henry Cole used some of the cards for his own personal use, the rest were sold.

An advertisement appeared in a publication called The Athenaeum. It offered "A Christmas Congratulation Card: or picture emblematical of Old English Festivity to Perpetuate kind recollections between Dear Friends".

The first Christmas card was a big success, despite social reformers objecting to the depiction of people raising a glass of wine, at a time when they were trying to educate the public about the dangers of alcohol.

After his many years of public service, Henry Cole modestly accepted a knighthood, at the insistence of Queen Victoria, in recognition of his contribution to the advancement of commerce and design.

You can view the first Christmas card at http://postalheritage.org.uk/exhibitions/onlineexhib itions/christmas/firstcard

An original obituary of Sir Henry Cole can be found at http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/periods_styles/feat ures/history/directors/henry_cole/index.html

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