Christmas Souvenir

a Christmas card’s a little thing so much~ a loving wish to bring but still my Christmas souvenir you’ll take in kindness, for the giver’s sake The first known item that looked a bit like a Christmas card was given to King James I of England. It was more like a large ornamental manuscript rather than a card as we think of them today. It was 33" x 24" and was folded into panels (it might have been folded so it could be carried around). It contained a picture of a rose in the center with a Christmas and New Year message to the King and his son. Also on the manuscript were four poems and a song - so rather more than are on cards today! Sir Henry Cole of the UK (1843) is credited with creating the custom of sending Christmas card as we know them today. He was a senior civil servant who had helped set-up the new 'Public Record Office' (now called the Post Office), where he was an Assistant Keeper, and wondered how it could be used more by ordinary people. Cole and his friend, John Horsley, designed the first card and sold each for 1 shilling each. The original cards were advertised with the slogan: "Just published, a Christmas Congratulations Card; or picture emblematical of old English festivity to perpetuate kind recollections between dear friends" The first postal service that ordinary people could use started in 1840 when the first 'Penny Post' public postal deliveries began. Before that, only wealthy people could afford to send anything in the post. The new Post Office was able to offer a Penny stamp because new railways were being built. These could carry much more post than the horse and carriage that had been used before. Also, trains could go a lot faster. Cards became even more popular in the UK when they could be posted in an unsealed envelope for one halfpenny - half the price of an ordinary letter. As printing methods improved, Christmas cards became much more popular and were produced in large numbers from about 1860. By the early 1900s, the custom of mailing Christmas card had spread throughout Europe and were especially popular in Germany. Christmas Cards appeared in the USA in the late 1840s,but were very expensive and most people couldn't afford them. It 1875, Louis Prang, a printer originally from Germany started mass producing cards so more people could afford to buy them. In 1915, John C. Hall and two of his brothers created Hallmark Cards, who are still one of the biggest card makers today! (information provided by whychristmas.com)