The First Christmas Cards Worksheet Download

Wow, the first printed Christmas card is more than 180 years old! It was small enough to hold in one hand. In the middle, a happy family raised their glasses to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

That cheerful picture was the idea of Sir Henry Cole, a busy Londoner in 1843. He had so many letters to answer that he asked artist John Callcott Horsley to design a card. Printers made about 1,000 cards, and shops sold each for a shilling.

A thousand sounds like a lot, but soon people needed many more, because mailing letters had become cheap. In 1840, the Penny Black stamp let people pay one penny for postage, the money you pay to mail a letter. Later, better printing made cards cheap too.

With cards flying everywhere, pictures got fancier in Queen Victoria's time, with holly, snow, and robins. Mail carriers wore red coats and were nicknamed "robins," which may be why robins flew onto cards. Today people still send cards, all because one busy man wanted an easy way to say Merry Christmas.

Imagine you are walking down a foggy London street in 1843. Horses clip-clop by, and gas lamps glow in the dark. Hurrying along is Henry Cole, who has a very long list of things to do. Christmas is coming, and he has no time to write to all his friends!

So how did Cole fix his no-time-to-write problem? He asked an artist named John Callcott Horsley to draw a card. The picture showed a family lifting their glasses in a toast, with vines curling around them. Because it was printed, or copied by a machine, Cole could make about 1,000 and sell the extras for a shilling each.

Each card cost a shilling, the same as twelve pennies, but a big change had already begun. In 1840, Britain started the Penny Post, so a letter could travel anywhere in the country for one penny. Postage is the money you pay to mail something, and now it was cheap! Soon printing got cheaper too, so many more families could send cards.

With cards zooming through the mail, artists were busy drawing new designs. Victorian cards, named for the time of Queen Victoria, showed snowy streets, holly, flowers, and little robins. Robins were popular because British mail carriers wore red coats and were nicknamed "robins." Today people still mail cards, and each one traces back to a busy man in 1843 who ran out of time.

Picture London on a foggy December evening in 1843, with gas lamps glowing and carriages clattering by. Inside one cozy house, Henry Cole stares at a tall pile of letters he has no time to answer. What if he sent the same printed greeting to every friend? That idea became a card showing a family raising glasses at a feast, with the words “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You.”

Those cheerful words needed a picture, so Cole asked an artist named John Callcott Horsley to design the card. Small side scenes showed people giving food and clothes to those in need. About 1,000 copies were printed, colored by hand, and sold for a shilling each. A shilling equaled twelve pennies, many times the cost of mailing a letter.

Mailing a letter had become cheap only three years earlier, when Britain began the Penny Post in 1840. For just one penny, a stamp called the Penny Black could carry a letter almost anywhere in Britain. Before that, the person receiving a letter often paid for it, and the price grew with distance. As printing improved, cards got cheaper too, and by the 1870s many families could afford to send them.

Families who could finally afford cards wanted pretty ones, and printers in Queen Victoria's Britain happily obliged. Cards sparkled with holly, flowers, snowy villages, and fluffy kittens. Robins were especially popular because British letter carriers wore bright red coats and were nicknamed “robins.” Can you imagine being nicknamed after a bird?

Cards carried by those red-coated “robins” soon sailed across the ocean too. In the 1870s, Boston printer Louis Prang made colorful cards for Americans and became known as the father of the American Christmas card. Today, families still slip cards into mailboxes and string them across mantels. Not bad for a busy man with a pile of unanswered letters: his idea is still going after more than 180 years!

Here is a puzzle for you: what do a busy man in London, a tiny stamp, and a family raising their glasses have in common? They are clues to a holiday mystery hiding in your mailbox: where did the very first Christmas card come from? Today's cards may sparkle with glitter, play a tune, or fold open like a tiny stage. The first one, made in 1843, looked very different, and the story behind it has some surprises.

The first surprise is the man behind it: Sir Henry Cole, a busy London official who wanted a quick way to greet friends in 1843. He asked an artist named John Callcott Horsley to draw a design, and printers made about 1,000 copies, each one colored by hand. The card showed a family raising glasses in a toast, with side panels of people feeding the hungry and clothing the poor. Above it all ran a greeting that still sounds familiar: "A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You."

Not everyone cheered for that toast, since some critics worried the card showed a child sipping wine. Still, the card had a secret helper: the Penny Post, which began in 1840 and let people mail a letter anywhere in Britain for just one penny. Before that, the person receiving a letter usually paid for it, and the price grew with the distance traveled. Cole had supported postal reform, so his idea arrived just as mailing something became affordable for ordinary families.

Cheap mail was only half of the answer, because cards also had to become cheap to make. By the 1870s, improved color printing let printers produce bright cards by the thousands instead of painting them one at a time. Victorian designers filled them with snowy villages, flowers, and robins, since British letter carriers wore red coats and were nicknamed "robins." Some cards were even trimmed with lace, ribbon, or silk fringe, like tiny holiday gifts.

Fringe has mostly gone out of style, but the cards themselves have never left the mailbox. The Greeting Card Association reports that Americans buy well over a billion holiday cards in a typical year. So the mystery is solved: an artist's picture, a penny stamp, and faster printing worked together to make cards a tradition for families everywhere. Every card in your mailbox today traces back to about 1,000 hand-colored copies made for one busy man in London.

Picture a Christmas card: snowy rooftops, a glowing candle, maybe a cheerful robin on a branch. The very first Christmas card looked nothing like that! Printed in London in 1843, it showed a family lifting their glasses at a party in the center, with side panels of people giving food and clothing to those in need. Across the top, it wished the reader "A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You." Like a tiny stage with three scenes, it squeezed feasting and kindness onto one small piece of card.

Behind that little stage was a man with a very busy calendar. Henry Cole, a London official who was later knighted, had so many letters to answer that, as the story goes, he wanted a quicker way to send holiday greetings. He asked an artist named John Callcott Horsley to design the picture, and a printer made about 1,000 copies. Cole sold the rest for a shilling each. That was twelve times the cost of mailing a letter, so early cards were a treat for the well-off.

That steep price might have kept cards rare if not for a bargain the government had already created. In 1840, Britain launched the Penny Post, which let people mail a letter almost anywhere in the country for just one penny. Before then, the person receiving a letter usually paid, and the cost grew with the distance it traveled. Add faster trains and better printing presses, and suddenly a card could be cheap to make and cheap to send. By the 1870s, printers were producing cards in huge numbers, and sending one had become a habit for families across Britain.

Once color printing became affordable, cards burst into bloom, sometimes quite literally. Victorian designers, working during Queen Victoria's long reign, filled cards with flowers, ferns, fairies and birds, and added fancy touches like lacy paper edges and silky fringes. Robins became favorites because British mail carriers wore red coats and were nicknamed "robins," so a robin seemed like the perfect card-carrying bird. Some cards showed the nativity, since Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus at Christmas, while others simply wished friends good cheer. Across the Atlantic, a Boston printer named Louis Prang helped make bright, colorful cards popular in the United States during the 1870s.

Those red-coated "robins" have long since retired, but the cards they carried have not. Today, texts and emails zip around the world in seconds, yet people still mail paper cards by the millions each December. I think the reason is simple: a card is something you can hold, prop on a shelf, and keep long after the holiday ends. When someone picks one out and signs their name, it says "I thought of you," a message that has traveled from Cole's London to your own mailbox. Not bad for an idea that started as a shortcut for one very busy man and about 1,000 printed cards.

Every December, mail carriers in many countries haul extra-heavy bags stuffed with paper rectangles no bigger than your hand. Inside, you might find glittery snowmen, glowing candles, or a family photo, all wrapped around a few warm words. Can you guess how many copies of the very first one were printed? Only about 1,000, in London in 1843. That is roughly the number of students in one big middle school, yet those cards launched a habit that now circles the globe.

The person who set that habit in motion was Henry Cole, a Londoner who seemed to be doing about twelve jobs at once. He worked for the government, cheered on the new postal system, and later helped organize the huge Great Exhibition of 1851. According to the popular story, he was simply too busy in 1843 to answer his pile of holiday letters one by one. His clever solution was to hire an artist, John Callcott Horsley, to design a card he could print and send to everyone. Horsley's picture was split into three panels, with a printed greeting across the top: "A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You."

That cheerful greeting, however, hung above a picture that stirred up a little trouble. The center panel showed a family raising glasses of wine at a festive table, and some critics thought that was a poor example for children. The side panels showed people giving food and clothing to those in need, a reminder that the season was also about generosity. Cole had the cards printed and colored by hand, and he sold them for a shilling each. A shilling equaled twelve pennies, which made the card a fancy treat rather than an everyday purchase.

Twelve pennies for a card sounds steep, but a bigger change was already waiting at the mailbox. Before 1840, the person receiving a letter usually paid the postage, and the price depended on how far the letter had traveled. Then Britain launched the Penny Post, and a sender could mail a letter almost anywhere in the country for one penny, paid with a small sticker called a stamp. The first of these, the Penny Black, appeared in 1840, three years before Cole's card. Suddenly, sending a greeting was cheap and simple, which is exactly what a new custom needs to spread.

Cheap stamps solved half the puzzle, but the cards themselves also had to become cheap to make. Later in the 1800s, new color-printing methods let companies turn out bright, detailed cards by the thousands. Victorian designs favored robins, holly, flowers, and snowy village scenes, often trimmed with lace or fringe. Robins were especially popular because British mail carriers wore red coats and were nicknamed "robins," so a robin at the door meant a message had arrived. In the 1870s, a Boston printer named Louis Prang began selling colorful cards to Americans, helping the custom cross the Atlantic.

Once the custom crossed the ocean, it never stopped traveling. The Greeting Card Association says Americans buy billions of cards of all kinds each year, and the winter holidays are among the busiest seasons. Many families now send e-cards too, yet paper cards remain popular. Look closely, and you can see how a bright idea, a low postage price, and better printing worked together like gears in a machine. So when a card slides through your mail slot, remember that its great-great-great-grandparent was one of about 1,000 copies made in London in 1843.

Picture a London office in December 1843, where a busy government official named Henry Cole is staring at a tower of unanswered letters. Polite Victorians were expected to send warm holiday greetings by hand, and Cole, who juggled many projects at once, was running out of time. Sound familiar? According to the popular story, his solution was clever: why not have the greeting printed? The card he ordered was about the size of an index card, with a family lifting glasses in a toast at the center and the greeting 'A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You' printed on it. Cole could hardly have guessed that his time-saving trick would still be landing in mailboxes nearly two centuries later.

That toast was only the center of the picture. Cole hired artist John Callcott Horsley to design the card, and after printing, workers colored each copy by hand. On either side of the family, Horsley drew scenes of people feeding the hungry and clothing the poor, a reminder that the season was about generosity as well as feasting. Cole had about 1,000 copies made and sold them for a shilling apiece, the same as twelve of the penny stamps needed to mail one. Can you imagine paying that much for a single card? Only a small number of those originals are known to survive today, which makes each one a treasure for collectors.

A shilling was steep, but price was not the only thing people grumbled about. The center panel showed a child sipping wine, and temperance groups, which urged people to avoid alcohol, objected. Historians have argued about a different question: does Cole's card really deserve the title of 'first'? A card by the artist William Egley Jr. was once thought to be dated 1842, a year earlier, but later research suggested that the date was actually 1848. Most historians therefore call Cole's the first commercially produced Christmas card, a careful phrase that leaves room for handmade greetings, such as decorated pages schoolchildren made for their parents, that came before.

The word 'commercially' matters, because Cole's real breakthrough was not the picture but the timing. Just three years earlier, in 1840, Britain had introduced the Penny Post, which let a single penny stamp pay for a letter to travel anywhere in the United Kingdom. Before that, the person receiving a letter, not the sender, usually paid the postage, and the bill grew with distance. Cole had worked with postal reformer Rowland Hill, so he understood that cheap, prepaid mail could turn a private habit into a public one. Add growing railways to carry the mail and better printing presses to make the cards, and the pieces of the puzzle were in place.

Better printing soon filled the mail with cards that looked nothing like Cole's original. Instead of family dinners, many Victorian cards showed robins, holly, flowers, and snowy village lanes, some trimmed with silk fringe or lace. The robin was a favorite partly because British letter carriers wore red coats and were nicknamed 'robins.' Across the Atlantic, Boston printer Louis Prang used multicolor lithography to make cards popular in the 1870s, and he is often called the 'father of the American Christmas card.' He even held design contests with prizes for artists, and people collected his cards in albums like tiny paintings.

Collecting cards may sound old-fashioned, but sending them is still going strong. The Greeting Card Association, an industry group, has estimated that Americans buy more than a billion holiday cards each year. Today's designs range from nativity scenes, which picture the birth of Jesus that Christians celebrate at Christmas, to snowy landscapes and family photographs. Why do cards survive in a world of instant messages? Perhaps for the same reason Cole's did: a card is a small, personal object that someone can hold in their hands. Not bad for a first print run of about 1,000 cards: from one busy man's shortcut in 1843 to more than a billion cards bought by Americans in a single year.