History of Holiday Greeting Cards

It's either one of the season's most dreaded tasks – or one of its highlights: the annual ritual of sending holiday greeting cards. But when asked why we send holiday greeting cards every year, most people hesitate. "It's family tradition," they say.  But few seem to know when the family holiday tradition started.

The custom of delivering written seasonal greetings can be traced back to ancient times. Both the ancient Egyptians and the Chinese sent colorful greetings and cheerful messages at holiday periods, and the ancient Romans continued the trend. In the Middle Ages, the wealthy sometimes sent illustrated poems or letters to loved ones and family members during holiday periods. And in 1415, Charles, Duke of Orleans, whiled away his imprisonment in the Tower of London by sending Valentines – elaborately rhymed poems – to his wife.  During the Renaissance, the tradition of creating (or plagiarizing) poems and personal messages for the holidays continued.

15^th century Germans frequently exchanged seasonal cards that displayed a religious picture along with good wishes for the upcoming year. Not quite our modern cards, most of the cards were unique, and it seems that printers ailed to see the potential business in holiday cards for centuries. It was not until the 18^th century that printers created special holiday stationery that could be used for Christmas letters.  This stationery typically had elaborately engraved borders, and sometimes had brightly colored pictures.  The result was the start of new, and time consuming tradition: the annual holiday letter.

In fact greeting card history shows that the first commercial Christmas card was designed as a time saving device, when a panicked Henry Cole, back in 1840, realized that Christmas was fast approaching and he still hadn't sent out his annual holiday letters to family members and friends.  He contacted John Calcott Horsley, a well known artist, to design a unique holiday card he could send to family and friends. Horsley designed and printed about 1000 unique holiday cards (Cole sold the extras for 1 shilling each, which probably paid for his postage bill for the season.) The holiday card provided the basis for what would become the standard Christmas greeting card:  a holiday picture with a brief message:  "A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You!"  The holiday greeting cards proved so popular that Horsley was asked to make more, starting a holiday family tradition that continues today.  Other commercial printers soon jumped into the act.

Because of their expense – and the high cost of postage at the time – Christmas cards were sent only by the elite and remained relatively rare.  Only in1862 did the printing company of Charles Goodall of Sons allow the public to choose from a wide selection of holiday cards. Even then, these unique holiday cards were typically elaborate structures, complete with ribbons, lace and frames, that served as holiday decorations as well as messages.  These unique holiday cards have become highly sought after collector's items today.

But with cheaper printing methods and postage introduced in the 1870s, suddenly everyone could afford to send Christmas cards – and everyone did.  Early as 1880 greeting card history shows that postal officials in Britain had to warn people to mail cards early to avoid the holiday rush.

Holiday cards took a little longer to gain popularity in the United States. Valentine's Day cards arrived in 1830, well before Christmas cards did, when a young college student, Esther Howland, received a Valentine from an English admirer, and was so overwhelmed that she immediately began crafting Valentine cards herself. Her business soon earned her a six figure income, making her one of the most successful career women of the 19^th century.  Howland, however, apparently was under whelmed by the thought of Christmas cards, and until Louis Prang of Boston introduced his line of Christmas cards in 1875, almost no one in the United States or Canada exchanged cards as a family holiday tradition.

Louis Prang initially planned to sell his unique holiday cards only as a sideline, but when the greeting cards rapidly sold out; he realized he had a money maker on his hands. To increase his greeting cards' popularity, he created an annual contest, where hopeful artists could submit greeting card designs with the hope of winning a $1000 prize. The contest not only brought Prang free publicity, but also allowed him to find artists for his cards.  Prang rapidly designed holiday cards for other seasons as well, laying the foundations for the modern greeting card industry.

Sensing a business opportunity, many commercial printers decided to specialize in greeting cards in the early 20^th century, founding the greeting card companies we know of today:  Hallmark Cards (founded by Hall Brothers, Inc.) and American Greetings. World War I, which effectively cut off access to German printed cards, proved a boom for these American card printers, who swiftly moved in to capture the market, and urge Americans to send cards to soldiers to show their support – another innovation that soon became a family tradition.  By the middle of the 20^th century, the annual holiday card was more than a family holiday tradition, it became an institution.
 

During the 1950s, families found that they could cheaply reproduce family photographs and insert them into the holiday card, a practice that soon proved highly popular – and soon led to another family holiday tradition: the annual family photograph.   The 20^th  century also saw the advent of other cards celebrating other December holidays – specially Hanukkah and Kwansaa. Recognizing the multicultural nature of the United States, many companies created seasonal greeting cards that could be used to celebrate any December holiday. By the end of the 20^th century, the greeting card companies had established a multimillion dollar business – with about half of all sales coming from the December holiday season. 

E-cards, the next innovation, appear to have made hardly a dent in the printed greeting card industry yet, perhaps because even the worst of Grinches enjoys getting a unique holiday card in the mail. And, of course, it's family holiday tradition.