Editing Christmas card (section)

==History==
[[File:Firstchristmascard.jpg|thumb|250px|The world's first commercially produced Christmas card, designed by [[John Callcott Horsley]] for [[Henry Cole (inventor)|Henry Cole]] in 1843]]
[[File:Christmas Shopping, 1910.JPG|thumb|250px| Children looking at Christmas cards in [[New York City|New York]] 1910]]
[[File:Christmas card2 byLouisPrang.png|thumb|250px|Christmas card by Louis Prang, showing a group of [[Anthropomorphism|anthropomorphized]] frogs parading with banner and band.]]
The first known Christmas card was sent by [[Michael Maier]] to [[James I of England]] and his son [[Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales]] in 1611.<ref name="RCC">{{cite journal|last1=Goodall|first1=Paul|title=A Rosicrucian Christmas Card|journal=Rosicrucian Digest|date=2011|issue=1|pages=41–45|url=https://1bd9723bc8b0724b89d9-3657cf458561592fd0c7e3ec3895a19d.ssl.cf5.rackcdn.com/10_rosicrucian_christmas_card_052411.pdf|access-date=21 January 2018|archive-date=22 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180122125020/https://1bd9723bc8b0724b89d9-3657cf458561592fd0c7e3ec3895a19d.ssl.cf5.rackcdn.com/10_rosicrucian_christmas_card_052411.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> It was discovered in 1979 by [[Adam McLean]] in the [[Scottish Record Office]].<ref name="McLean">{{cite journal|last1=McLean|first1=Adam|title=A Rosicrucian Manuscript of Michael Maier|journal=The Hermetic Journal|date=1979|issue=5}}</ref> It was hand-made and incorporated [[Rosicrucian]] imagery, with the words of the greeting – "A greeting on the birthday of the Sacred King, to the most worshipful and energetic lord and most eminent James, King of Great Britain and Ireland, and Defender of the true faith, with a gesture of joyful celebration of the Birthday of the Lord, in most joyand fortune, we enter into the new auspicious year 1612"  –  being laid out to form a rose.

The first commercially available card was commissioned by Sir [[Henry Cole (inventor)|Henry Cole]] and designed by [[John Callcott Horsley]] in London 1843.<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica">{{cite web|title=Christmas Card|url=http://www.britannica.com/topic/Christmas-card|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=15 June 2015|archive-date=29 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160629212413/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christmas-card|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1679110.stm Christmas card sold for record price] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060205200933/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1679110.stm |date=5 February 2006 }} [[BBC News]]. Retrieved 12 June 2011.</ref><ref>György Buday, George Buday (1992). ''The history of the Christmas card.'' p.8. Omnigraphics, 1992</ref> The central picture showed three generations of a family raising a toast to the card's recipient: on either side were scenes of charity, with food and clothing being given to the poor.<ref>''The Times'' (London, England), 26 November 2001, p.8 12 cards from the original print run are said to survive: one, sent by Henry Cole and his wife to his grandmother, was sold in 2001 for £20,000.</ref> Allegedly the image of the family drinking wine together proved controversial, but the idea was shrewd: Cole had helped introduce the [[Penny Post]] three years earlier. Two batches totaling 2,050 cards were printed and sold that year for a [[shilling]] each.<ref name="speech history">{{Cite web|last=Earnshaw|first=Iris|title=The History of Christmas Cards|url=http://home.vicnet.net.au/~invhs/welcome.htm|publisher=Inverloch Historical Society Inc.|date=November 2003|access-date=25 July 2008|archive-date=28 September 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080928100739/http://home.vicnet.net.au/~invhs/welcome.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

Early British cards rarely showed winter or religious themes, instead favoring flowers, fairies and other fanciful designs that reminded the recipient of the approach of spring. Humorous and sentimental images of children and animals were popular, as were increasingly elaborate shapes, decorations and materials. At Christmas 1873, the [[lithograph]] firm [[Louis Prang|Prang and Mayer]] began creating [[greeting card]]s for the popular market in Britain. The firm began selling the Christmas card in America in 1874, thus becoming the first printer to offer cards in America. Its owner, [[Louis Prang]], is sometimes called the "father of the American Christmas card."<ref name="meggspage148">Meggs, Philip B. A History of Graphic Design. ©1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p 148 {{ISBN|0-471-29198-6}}.</ref> By the 1880s, Prang was producing over five million cards a year by using the [[chromolithography]] process of printmaking.<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica" /> However, the popularity of his cards led to cheap imitations that eventually drove him from the market. The advent of the [[postcard]] spelled the end for elaborate Victorian-style cards, but by the 1920s, cards with envelopes had returned. The extensive [[Laura Seddon Greeting Card Collection]] from the [[Manchester Metropolitan University]] gathers 32,000 [[Victorian era|Victorian]] and [[Edwardian era|Edwardian]] greeting cards, printed by the major publishers of the day,<ref>{{cite web| title = MMU Special Collections – Victorian Ephemera| publisher = [[Manchester Metropolitan University]]| url = http://www.specialcollections.mmu.ac.uk/victoria.php| access-date = 8 November 2013| archive-date = 9 November 2013| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131109164103/http://www.specialcollections.mmu.ac.uk/victoria.php| url-status = dead}}</ref> including Britain's first commercially produced Christmas card.<ref>{{cite web|title=Small Museums #1: Manchester Metropolitan University's Special Collections|publisher=Creative Tourist|date=10 May 2013|url=http://www.creativetourist.com/articles/festivals-and-events/manchester/small-museums-manchester-metropolitan-universitys-special-collections/|author=Susie Stubbs|access-date=8 November 2013|archive-date=25 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325031146/http://www.creativetourist.com/articles/festivals-and-events/manchester/small-museums-manchester-metropolitan-universitys-special-collections/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The production of Christmas cards was, throughout the 20th century, a profitable business for many stationery manufacturers, with the design of cards continually evolving with changing tastes and printing techniques. The now widely recognized brand [[Hallmark Cards]] was established in 1913 by [[Joyce Hall]] with the help of brother Rollie Hall to market their self-produced Christmas cards.<ref name="American Economic History">{{cite book|last1=Olson|first1=James S|author2=Abraham O Mendoza|title=American Economic History: A Dictionary and Chronology|date=1946|publisher=ABC-CLIO|location=Greenwood|page=287<!--|pages=695-->|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SZK5BwAAQBAJ&q=hallmark+christmas+cards+history&pg=PA287|access-date=22 June 2015|isbn=9781610696982|archive-date=7 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207183427/https://books.google.com/books?id=SZK5BwAAQBAJ&q=hallmark+christmas+cards+history&pg=PA287|url-status=live}}</ref> The Hall brothers capitalized on a growing desire for more personalized greeting cards, and reached critical success when the outbreak of [[World War I]] increased demand for cards to send to soldiers.<ref name="American Economic History" /> The [[World Wars]] brought cards with patriotic themes. Idiosyncratic "studio cards" with cartoon illustrations and sometimes risque humor caught on in the 1950s. Nostalgic, sentimental, and religious images have continued in popularity, and, in the 21st century, reproductions of [[Victorian era|Victorian]] and [[Edwardian]] cards are easy to obtain. Modern Christmas cards can be bought individually but are also sold in packs of the same or varied designs. In recent decades changes in technology may be responsible for the decline of the Christmas card. The estimated number of cards received by American households dropped from 29 in 1987 to 20 in 2004.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/dec04/286613.asp |title=? |publisher=[[Journal Sentinel]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050828143811/http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/dec04/286613.asp |archive-date=28 August 2005 }}</ref> Email and telephones allow for more frequent contact and are easier for generations raised without handwritten letters – especially given the availability of websites offering free email Christmas cards. Despite the decline, 1.9 billion cards were sent in the U.S. in 2005 alone.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/005870.html |title=? |publisher=[[U.S. Census Bureau]] |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20100507013857/http%3A//www%2Ecensus%2Egov/Press%2DRelease/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/005870%2Ehtml |archive-date=7 May 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Some card manufacturers now provide [[E-card]]s. In the UK, Christmas cards account for almost half of the volume of greeting card sales, with over 668.9 million Christmas cards sold in the 2008 festive period.<ref>[http://www.greetingcardassociation.org.uk/info-resource/market-info/facts-and-figures Facts And Figures – GCA: The Greeting Card Association] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131229151238/http://www.greetingcardassociation.org.uk/info-resource/market-info/facts-and-figures |date=29 December 2013 }} Retrieved 17 June 2011.</ref>
In mostly non-religious countries (e.g. Czech Republic), the cards are called [[New Year Card]]s; they are sent before Christmas and the emphasis (design, texts) is mostly given to the New Year, omitting religious symbols.

===Official Christmas cards===
[[File:Johnson White House Christmas Card.jpg|thumb|left|[[Lyndon B. Johnson|President Johnson]]'s 1967 White House Christmas card]]
"Official" Christmas cards began with [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria]] in the 1840s. The [[British royal family]]'s cards are generally portraits reflecting significant personal events of the year.

There is a long-standing custom for the American [[President of the United States|President]] and [[First Lady of the United States|First Lady]] to send [[White House]] Christmas Cards each holiday season.<ref name="Los Angeles Times">{{cite web|last1=Greenberg|first1=David|title=Signed, Sealed, Secular|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2011-dec-18-la-oe-greenberg-xmascards-20111218-story.html|website=Los Angeles Times|date=18 December 2011|access-date=15 June 2015|archive-date=23 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623030616/http://articles.latimes.com/2011/dec/18/opinion/la-oe-greenberg-xmascards-20111218|url-status=live}}</ref> The practice originated with President [[Calvin Coolidge]], who was the first president to issue a written statement of peaceful tidings during the holidays in 1927.<ref name="Los Angeles Times" /><ref name="Business Insider">{{cite web|last1=Storm|first1=Christian|title=Happy Holidays from the White House|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/presidential-holiday-cards-2014-12#calvin-coolidge-1927-1|website=Business Insider|access-date=15 June 2015|archive-date=15 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170415103827/http://www.businessinsider.com/presidential-holiday-cards-2014-12#calvin-coolidge-1927-1|url-status=live}}</ref> President [[Herbert Hoover]] was the first to give Christmas notes to the White House staff, and President [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]] was the first president to utilize the card format (rather than the previously used notes or a written statement) that most closely resembles the Christmas cards of today.<ref name="Los Angeles Times" />

In 1953, U.S. President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] issued the first official [[White House Card]]. The cards usually depict White House scenes as rendered by prominent American artists. The number of recipients has snowballed over the decades, from just 2,000 in 1961 to 1.4 million in 2005.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bush-holiday-cards-cause-stir/ |title=Bush 'Holiday' Cards Cause Stir |author=Melissa McNamara |date=7 December 2005 |work=[[CBS News]] |access-date=22 September 2010 |archive-date=17 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130917211642/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/12/07/politics/main1103160.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Commercial Christmas cards===
[[File:Tucker Corporation Christmas Card, 1947.jpg|thumb|120px|Tucker Corporation Christmas Card, 1947]]

Many businesses, from small local businesses to multi-national enterprises, send Christmas cards to the people on their customer lists, as a way to develop general goodwill, retain brand awareness and reinforce social networks. These cards are almost always discrete and secular in design, and do not attempt to sell a product, limiting themselves to mentioning the name of the business. The practice harkens back to [[trade cards]] of the 18th century, an ancestor of the modern Christmas card.

In September 1964, it was reported that, during the previous eight years, British industry had increasingly stopped sending "official" Christmas cards, including Granada, ICI, Schweppes, Shell and Unilver.<ref>Philip Phillips. "The BBC regret - no greetings". ''The Sun''. 15 September 1964. p 1.</ref>

===Charity Christmas cards===
[[File:Royal Typewriter Christmas Card 1909.jpg|thumb|120px|  Christmas card promoting [[Royal Typewriter Company|Royal typewriters]]]]

Many organizations produce special Christmas cards as a fundraising tool. The most famous of these enterprises is probably the [[UNICEF]] Christmas card program,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.unicef.org/philippines/downloads/07Consumer%20Brochure.pdf |title=UNICEF Christmas Card Program, ''UNICEF Philippines'' |access-date=29 November 2013 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063931/http://www.unicef.org/philippines/downloads/07Consumer%20Brochure.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> launched in 1949, which selects artwork from internationally known artists for card reproduction. The UK-based Charities Advisory Trust used to give out an annual "Scrooge Award" to the cards that return the smallest percentage to the charities they claim to support<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://fundraising.co.uk/2014/12/11/scrooge-awards-retire-successful-campaign-charity-christmas-cards/ |title=? |publisher=Charitiesadvisorytrust.org.uk |access-date=22 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031216155305/http://www.charitiesadvisorytrust.org.uk/charitiesadvisorytrust/awards.html |archive-date=16 December 2003 |url-status=dead }}</ref> although it is not universally well received by the Christmas card producers.<ref>[https://archive.today/20130121230725/http://www.digiprintchristmas.com/blog/2012/06/charities-advisory-trust/ The Charities Advisory Trust – Killing a UK market in decline]</ref> The RSPB produced the first ever charity Christmas card in 1898, selling 4,500 that year <ref>{{Cite web |url=https://shopping.rspb.org.uk/christmas-shop/charity-christmas-cards |title=RSPB Shop – charity Christmas cards |access-date=29 November 2023 |archive-date=29 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220929141849/https://shopping.rspb.org.uk/christmas-shop/charity-christmas-cards/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Christmas stamps and stickers===
[[File: Santa Coming Down the Chimney Drawing.jpg|thumb|left|Santa Coming Down the Chimney]]
Many countries produce official [[Christmas stamps]], which may be brightly coloured and depict some aspect of Christmas tradition or a Nativity scene. Small decorative stickers are also made to seal the back of envelopes, typically showing a trinket or some symbol of Christmas.

In 2004, the German post office gave away 20 million free scented stickers, to make Christmas cards smell of a fir Christmas tree, cinnamon, gingerbread, a honey-wax candle, a baked apple and an orange.

===Collectors items===
From the beginning, Christmas cards have been avidly collected. [[Mary of Teck|Queen Mary]] amassed a large collection that is now housed in the [[British Museum]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Victorian Christmas Cards|publisher=World Collectors Net|url=http://www.worldcollectorsnet.com/magazine/issue13/iss13p3.html|website=WCN Magazine|access-date=9 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100827104410/http://www.worldcollectorsnet.com/magazine/issue13/iss13p3.html|archive-date=27 August 2010}}</ref> The [[University College London]]'s [[Slade School of Fine Art]] houses a collection of handmade Christmas Cards from alumni such as [[Paula Rego]] and [[Richard Hamilton (artist)|Richard Hamilton]] and are displayed at events over the Christmas season, when members of the public can make their own Christmas cards in the '''Strang Print Room'''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums/uclart/events |title=UCL Slade Art Collection Events |publisher=UCL.co.uk |access-date=28 December 2009 |archive-date=30 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091030041447/http://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums/uclart/events |url-status=live }}</ref> Specimens from the "golden age" of printing (1840s–1890s) are especially prized and bring in large sums at auctions. In December 2005, one of Horsley's original cards sold for nearly £9,000. Collectors may focus on particular images like [[Santa Claus]], poets, or printing techniques. The Christmas card that holds the world record as the most expensive ever sold was a card produced in 1843 by J.&nbsp;C. Horsley and commissioned by civil servant Sir Henry Cole. The card, one of the world's first, was sold in 2001 by UK auctioneers Henry Aldridge to an anonymous bidder for a record breaking £22,250.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Warner|first1=Gerald|title=A perfect excuse not to send Christmas cards|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/christmas/6443371/A-perfect-excuse-not-to-send-Christmas-cards.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/christmas/6443371/A-perfect-excuse-not-to-send-Christmas-cards.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=24 December 2015|newspaper=The Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

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<gallery>
File:Santa Claus and His Reindeer.jpg|Santa Claus and his reindeer

Image:Greeting Card Christmas c1860.jpg|Silk cord and tassels, c.&nbsp;1860
Image:Greeting Card Christmas Victorian 1870.jpg|Victorian, c.&nbsp;1870
File:No Known Restrictions Christmas Eve by J. Hoover, no date (LOC) (2122063062).jpg|Christmas Card, 1880
Image:Greeting card Christmas Victorian 1885.jpg|Victorian, 1885
File:Dear Santa Claus.jpg|Postcard, c.&nbsp;1901
File:Weihnachtskarte 1904.jpg|Christmas card, 1904
File:Christmas postcard 1907.jpg|Christmas postcard 1907
File:Julekort, ca 1912.jpg|Christmas card, 1912

File:Christmas card Brundage signed.jpg|[[Frances Brundage]] Christmas card, 1910
</gallery>

===Home-made cards===
[[File:Homemade christmas cards.jpg|thumb|Home-made Christmas Cards can take many forms]]
Since the 19th century, many families and individuals have chosen to make their own Christmas cards, either in response to monetary necessity, as an artistic endeavour, or in order to avoid the commercialism associated with Christmas cards. With a higher preference of handmade gifts during the 19th century over purchased or commercial items, homemade cards carried high sentimental value as gifts alone. Many families make the creation of Christmas cards a family endeavour and part of the seasonal festivity, along with stirring the Christmas cake and decorating the tree. Over the years such cards have been produced in every type of paint and crayon, in collage and in simple printing techniques such as potato-cuts. A revival of interest in paper crafts, particularly [[scrapbooking]], has raised the status of the homemade card and made available an array of tools for stamping, punching, and cutting.
[[File:Happy Christmas.jpg|thumb|Christmas card made on a [[personal computer|PC]] incorporating [[digital photography]].]]
Advances in [[digital photography]] and printing have provided the technology for many people to design and print their own cards, using their original graphic designs or photos, or those available with many computer programs or online as [[clip art]], as well as a great range of typefaces. Such homemade cards include personal touches such as family photos and holidays snapshots. [[Crowdsourcing]], another trend enabled by the Internet, has allowed thousands of independent and hobbyist graphic designers to produce and distribute holiday cards around the world.