by Nancy Leport, Board Member,
Parma Hilton Historical Society
Have you begun writing your Christmas cards yet? Or, perhaps you have begun receiving them? If so, you can thank (or curse) Sir Henry Cole for the origin of the Christmas card.
Sir Henry Cole, most known for the founding of the Victoria and Albert Museum, was a very busy man as a prominent educator and patron of the arts. According to John Hanc in The Smithsonian Magazine of December 9, 2015, he was comparable to today’s A-listers. As a result he had too many friends. In Victorian England it was considered impolite not to answer the notes and letters you received and, with the advent of the Penny Post, the number of correspondences he received exceeded his ability to respond. He struggled for a way to solve his anxiety around this and came up with an ingenious idea.
He contacted his friend, JC Horsely, an illustrator and told him his idea. Mr. Horsely created a drawing of a family at the table enjoying their holiday meal flanked by people helping the poor. Sir Henry had this drawing printed on 5-1/8 x 3-1/4 inch card stock and on the back “TO:” in the salutation and the words “A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year To You.” With a few pen strokes he had solved his problem of too many friends and too much correspondence. It was basically a post card that would allow him to follow etiquette efficiently.
You would think that this would be greeted with enthusiasm for it would solve problems for many busy people at the time. However, it was not without controversy because as Mr. Hanc writes “the family at the table were holding glasses of wine and it looked like the children were toasting with wine as well.” Oh, the scandal!
It wasn’t until 1875 that Louis Prang, a Prussian immigrant, created the first U.S. Christmas card printed in Boston. It looked nothing like Sir Henry’s with only a flower on the front and just “Merry Christmas” printed on the back.
The modern Christmas card can be attributed to a printing company in Kansas City run by Joyce Hall in 1915. Joined in the business by his brothers, Rollie and William, they printed the first folded Christmas card rather than a post card. It was 4” x 6” and came with an envelope. Their reasoning was that the post card did not have enough room for people to write everything they wanted to. Ironic that the first card originated to eliminate a lot of writing and the new ones added room for just that purpose. This printing company became known as Hallmark. And the rest is history.
Other fun Christmas card facts can be found at the Parma Town Hall in the window display by the Parma Hilton Historical Society. If you look closely, you will find a copy of Sir Henry Cole’s first printed Christmas post card. The display will be up until the end of January.
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