Skip to main content

Christmas Firsts #2 : Christmas Card

 Handmade Christmas card - Wilma Simmons 2017 

Christmas cards,  in many places,  are already a tradition of Christmas past. Many people have told me that they send electronic Christmas greetings now, but for just as many, sending and receiving Christmas cards is one the practices most enjoyed at this time of the year.  I still like to make my own cards which I find  a really fun part of the Christmas card tradition.... well,  perhaps not when I am behind  schedule and putting the last spot of glue on a card on Christmas eve! 
Handmade Christmas cards - Wilma Simmons 


 Have you ever wondered  who sent the first Christmas card and when? 

 The first Christmas cards were commissioned by Sir Henry Cole and designed and  illustrated by John Callcott Horsley in London  in 1843. The first card had three panels - the centre showing a family celebrating  with the outer panels depicting helping the poor. 
The first edition of the cards were sold for 1 shilling each. In that era, that was expensive!   The cards were sent by Penny Post  introduced in 1840 as the first postal service in England that working class people were able to afford. Cards became popular in England and by 1870  they could be posted for a halfpenny if they were in unsealed envelopes. 
First Christmas Card 1843 
Cards were much more expensive in USA and even though they were introduced in 1840's it wasn't until a German born printer, Louis Prang began to mass produce cards in 1875 that  Americans could afford them. American sharpshooting star, Annie Oakley is accredited with the first "personalised" Christmas card in 1891. The card featured a photo of herself dressed in tartan as she was  visiting Scotland and had the cards made to send back to her friends in USA.  
Annie Oakley 1891 

If you are going to send Christmas cards, don't hesitate ... over the years the postal service hasn't become quicker, so this week is a good time to have your cards written and posted!  

 Tomorrow there will be a follow up : the first Christmas postage stamp. 

 Sources : https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Annie_Oakley_1891.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_card


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for reading my blog and please share your thoughts about my blog post by leaving a comment.Your comment won't appear immediately as comments are verified before publication in an effort to reduce the amount of spam appearing. Anonymous comments will not be published.

Popular posts from this blog

Countdown to Christmas 20 - Fruitcake song!

There are many songs about fruit cakes  - not all of them referring to the Christmas cake we know and love.It is really surprising to learn via Google that there are 89 listed songs with references to Christmas cake or fruit cake - not all of them complimentary.   Probably one of the most famous folk songs about Christmas cake is Miss Fogarty's  Christmas Cake (a favourite sung by The Irish Rovers).  This first recorded comical Christmas song was written by C Frank Horn in 1883 in Pennsylania, as a variation of an Irish folk song, 'Miss Mulligan's Christmas Cake' . The chorus might give you the hint that Miss Fogarty's cake was not for the faint hearted or those who suffered from a weak stomach.    Chorus : There were plums and prunes and cherries, There were citrons and raisins and cinnamon, too There was nutmeg, cloves and berries And a crust that was nailed on with glue There were caraway seeds in abundance Such that...
Post a Comment
Read more

Christmas Countdown 15 : Christmas Tree #11 - Disposable

Plastic cups  https://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/christmas-stem-ideas-kids/ Advent Blog : Day 11 - Disposable  We are all so much more conscious about ridding our landfills and oceans of plastic waste. For Christmas, here is a way to use up some of those disposable items which seem to multiply at holiday parties and celebrations, or perhaps you have just been saving them up for a creative use.... Who would have thought coffee pods would make such stylish Christmas trees ? ... Add caption If you don't have one of those machines, then perhaps you have coffee on the run - Starbucks or Nescafe ?  from  https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/369858188126737920/ Nescafe cups https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/72761350208620530/ The disposable cups don' t have to be brand names to work well as materials for Christmas trees. Taking an engineering approach to plastic cup trees seems to be the answer for a more ornate result.  from  https:...
1 comment
Read more

Christmas Firsts #11: Penguins

This year, I fell into the sentimental trap of making some penguin softies for Christmas .... and I am not the only one - penguins seem to be everywhere at the moment dressed in Christmassy costumes, with trees, bells, and all kinds of Christmas paraphernalia.   Should penguins really  be associated with Christmas?   Probably not  and not as Santa's helpers as they often depicted. Penguins inhabit the Antarctic region in the South Pole, while Santa Claus it has been established has his home in the North Pole. The theory is that somehow penguins are associated with snow, then Winter, then Christmas, but what about us in the southern hemisphere. Perhaps they are just cute?  Whatever the reason, when were penguins first seen as part of the Christmas scene ?  While there is no verifiable answer, it would seem that Monty the Penguin in the John Lewis Christmas advertisement in 2014  popularised  the trend. (If you are not famil...
Post a Comment
Read more