THE FIRST CHRISTMAS CARD MADE



Though wood engravers produced prints with religious themes in the European Middle Ages, the first commercial Christmas and New Year's card was designed in London, England in 1843. John Callcott Horsley (1817 - 1903), a British narrative painter and a Royal Academician, designed the first Christmas and New Year's card at the suggestion and request of his friend Sir Henry Cole, who was the first director of the Victoria and Albert Museum. Horsley designed the first Christmas card in 1840, but it went on sale only in 1843, when one thousand cards were offered for 1s each. The first Christmas card, designed by  John Callcot Horsley, published in 1843. The card was not received without controversy, for it showed a family raising their glasses to toast Christmas. Puritans immediately denounced it, but the idea was a hit with others. The Christmas card became very popular and other artists quickly followed Horsley's concept. A particularly popular card was designed by English artist William Egley in 1849.






NEXT