I am old enough to remember snail mail in all its glory. In fact I had six pen pals in different countries from Belgium over England to Ireland, Australia, the USA and of course Germany. Nowadays my wrist is so used to the computer keyboard that it struggles with longer letters, but back then ten pages a day were not unusual for me at all. Oh, the excitement when another letter arrived!
Even though I miss the feeling, I hardly manage adding a hand written note today when I send a gift for example. Often I am shocked at how terrible my handwriting looks now although I have to admit it was never great. No matter how hard I tried, I never made an A in cursive writing in elementary school.
Unfortunately my laziness or lack of motivation also goes for Christmas cards which is made worse by the fact that I have a few packs around.
Who started that Christmas card thing, anyway? Let's see ....
That would be Sir Henry Cole. He was an English civil servant and inventor and facilitated many innovations in commerce and education, for example in 1840 when he played an important role in the introduction of the Penny Post and the world's first adhesive postage stamp, the Penny Black.
In 1843 he commissioned the artist John Callcott Horsley to design a Christmas card which was then printed in a small edition of about 2,000 cards and sold for one shilling each. The design wasn't popular with everyone because beside the feeding of the clothing of the poor it also showed a family drinking wine together including the child.
From England the custom spread to other countries, for example the USA where the first Christmas cards were printed in 1874.
In the 10s and 20s of the 20th century homemade cards became popular.
This is a compilation of facts collected by the printing company MOO. Click the picture to enlarge it.
So what do you think? Maybe I should get myself a really nice pen, practice my cursive writing a little and write some real paper Christmas cards after all instead of sending e-cards? What about you?
I totally believe that only 15% of Christmas cards are bought by men; I'm actually surprised that the percentage is that high. In years past, I was diligent about sending Christmas cards to friends and relatives but as the time went by I lost touch with some, others passed away and email became popular. I stopped three years ago after receiving only two cards. While I love the cards, seeing the designs and reading the notes written inside, I don't miss this task!
ReplyDeleteI haven't even been very good with my e-cards last years *blush*
DeleteUntil a few years ago I made the christmas cards that send myself. In 3D, pergamano or embroidered with and without beads. Like Dawn I stopped after receiving only 1 or 2. Now a days I make them on my computer and send them through email. :)
ReplyDeleteIsn't it a pity? I bet your cards looked beautiful!
DeleteI still send Christmas cards, around 80 per year, although I think I will cull the list a bit this year. We receive 20 or so.
ReplyDeleteSerious question ... do they all have the same text?
DeleteI used to send cards to people from my cat forum (before I misplaced the address list) and I always felt I had to think up something new for each card!
One of my new neighbors hand painted her Christmas card design and had them printed. I can't believe she went to that much trouble.
ReplyDeleteI haven't sent cards the past couple of years. I guess I should. I have a drawer full of them.
Wow. I've never heard that, but it's actually a quite lovely idea.
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