11 Amazing Christmas Card Facts For Holiday Greetings!

Did you know that Sir Henry and his friend John Horsley created the first card and sold it for one shilling apiece?

A Christmas card is a form of the generic greetings card that is sent as part of the traditional Christmas celebration. It is used to exchange a plethora of emotions about Christmastide and the entire holiday season between individuals.

Many people, even some non-Christians, in western civilization and Asia traditionally participate in this gesture of exchanging Christmas cards in the weeks leading up to Christmas Day.

People have been exchanging Christmas greetings in the form of greeting cards for hundreds of years now. A Christmas letter dating back to 1534 included the phrase 'Merry Christmas' for the first time.

Many cards convey deeper religious sentiments or feature a poem, prayer, Christmas carol lyrics, or Biblical phrase. Many others focus on the broader holiday season featuring an all-inclusive 'season's greetings'.

John Calcott Horsley created the first contemporary Christmas card.

E-cards seemed to be the perfect replacement for greeting cards a few years ago but apparently, they haven't been quite as popular as many people believed that they would be. Christmas cards may not be as prevalent as they were ten years ago, but the custom of Christmas cards is certain to continue for the foreseeable future.

Keep reading the remaining article to find out more! Afterward, also check out some interesting Christmas fern facts and April birthday facts.

The History Of Christmas Cards

The history of Christmas cards is quite interesting. King James I of England (who also was King James VI of Scotland) received the first known object that resembled a Christmas card as early as 1611. It was more akin to a huge ornate text than a card in the modern sense.

It was a folded card, foldable into panels, and measured 34 in x 34 in (84cm x 60cm). It featured a rose in the center, with a Christmas and New Year greeting inscribed within and all around the rose for the King and his son.

Four poetries and a song were also included in the document; more than is seen on modern greeting cards!

Sir Henry Cole pioneered the practice of mailing Christmas cards, as we understand the popular Christmas card presently, in London in the United Kingdom in 1843.

Sir Henry Cole was a senior civil servant or government employee who had assisted in the establishment of the new 'Public Record Office,' now known as the Post Office, where he had been an Assistant Keeper, and pondered how regular people could benefit from it.

Henry Cole, a distinguished educator, and lover of the arts moved in the upper crust of early Victorian England's social circles and had the problem of having many acquaintances. Those pals were giving Cole a lot of stress over the 1843 Christmas season.

Their letters were the source of the problem.

According to history, there was a recent growth of the British postal service as well as the establishment of the 'Penny Post'. Penny Post allowed the sender to send a letter or postcard anywhere in the country by affixing a penny stamp to the message; the Christmas and New Year's letters had got a new push in England.

Cole had a brilliant idea. He propositioned J.C. Horsley, an artist acquaintance, and requested him to develop a concept of holiday cards that Cole had conceived in his head.

Cole then got a thousand copies printed of Horsley's design, a triptych depicting a family at a table enjoying the holiday surrounded by pictures of individuals assisting the poor, by a London printer. The first printing of the picture was produced on a 5 1/8 × 3 1/4 inch piece of rigid cardboard.

The salutation 'To_____" at the start of each letter allowed Cole to customize his answers, which incorporated the generic greeting 'A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year To You'. This was the very first Christmas card.

Though Cole and Horsley are credited with the invention of the idea of the first Christmas card, it took many decades for the Christmas card to become popular in both the United Kingdom and the United States.

After it happened, a journey started from the first Christmas card and it became an essential component of our holiday celebrations, even as the meaning of the holidays expanded to encompass not just Christmas and New Year's, but also Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and the winter solstice.

Messages For Christmas Cards

The current Christmas card business began in around 1915, with the publication of the first Christmas card by Joyce Hall's Kansas City-based budding postcard printing firm in America, subsequently partnered by his brothers Rollie and William.

The Hall Brothers firm (which was later renamed to Hallmark a decade later) quickly adopted a new style format for the printing of the cards, 4 in (10 cm) wide by 6 in (15 cm) high, folded once, and enclosed in an envelope.

The first generation of Christmas cards often featured images of the Nativity scene and religious symbols. It was fashionable and preferable according to the Victorian standards of the late 1800s to have robins and snow sceneries on Christmas cards.

As history tells us, by the early 1900s, the practice of exchanging this popular card had expanded throughout Europe, becoming notably popular in Germany.

For some people, writing Christmas card greetings is one of the most enjoyable parts of the year. It's a chance to express how much your buddies and family mean to you and just how much you cherish them.

While you'll be sending lots of cards, ensure each one is personalized with a Christmas message. During the Christmas season, every message should promote joy and fill the hearts of your dear ones with affection, harmony, and happiness.

The most eloquent greeting we may send to our loved ones is sometimes a simple Merry Christmas'. Take a look at the samples below for communications that reflect this nice and straightforward sentiment:

It's the season to send greetings of joy, love, and peace to each other. Heartiest Christmas greetings.

Happy Holidays and a prosperous New Year!

I wish you a wonderful Christmas.

Love is a gift. Peace is a gift. Happiness is a gift May you have all of these things this Christmas. God Bless.

May Santa deliver you everything you've asked for. Christmas greetings!

Here's to a blessed year and beyond. Have a wonderful holiday season!

Writing The Ending Of Christmas Cards

The choice of words used to finish your custom holiday greeting cards will reflect your bond with the people you're sending them to, so make sure you use good etiquettes in your Christmas cards. It will undoubtedly create a difference if you take the time to choose the ideal closure.

When deciding how to sign your Christmas cards, focus on the relation with the people you're writing to. Christmas cards for friends and family, for instance, will be far more customized than a Christmas card for a work colleague. Your signature serves as a finishing touch to your holiday greeting cards.

Whenever writing cards to close friends and family or neighbors, use a more loving closure to communicate the spirit of Christmas and also your personal proximity with the receiver; expressions like 'sharing love', 'heartiest blessings', 'always within my heart' are some recommendations.

With a wide choice of relevant city sceneries, paper, and envelope quality and possibilities, the Boston holiday greeting cards are especially ideal for companies.

When sending a holiday card to your colleagues, customers, or other companies, use a highly professional closure like 'warm wishes' or 'heartiest wishes'.

Ways To Send Christmas Cards

It's quite acceptable to not send cards to everyone. Cards were created to offer greetings and best wishes to folks you won't be seeing this holiday season in person. There's no need to send letters to neighbors, co-workers, or church members who you'll see between now and 1 January.

Given their history, original cards will always be a classic approach to offer warmth and best wishes over the holiday season, however, that doesn't imply that you have to stick to it. With present technology, there are several alternatives available to sending Christmas cards.

You may send vlogs or blogs, wish them well on family Facebook sites, lip-sync songs, send ornaments, postcards, postagram, cards for causes, plantable cards, and of course, picture collages instead of cards.

The limited time you have over the holidays should not be spent frantically organizing Christmas cards.

Long line-ups at the post office, having to wait for your box of Christmas cards to eventually make it in the mail (owing to prolonged delivery schedules), and cramped hands from writing all of those postal addresses are all things that nobody really appreciates!

So, how can you send Christmas cards without spending hours stamping, filling, and sending them? You may mail your card, send it over Whatsapp to your friends and family, or upload it to Google Drive and share the link via Messenger, Whatsapp, or any other messaging service instead.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for 11 amazing Christmas card facts for holiday greetings!

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