Hurrah for Santy!

The first mass-produced Christmas Card was printed in 1843 when the founder of the Victoria and Albert Museum commissioned John Calcott Horsley to paint a festive image to accompany a message of season’s greetings. If you are curious the image can be found on Wikimedia Commons here. The image gained much criticism for depicting children drinking wine. Nevertheless, the idea caught on and Christmas Cards became a fashionable way to send best wishes to friends and family for the holidays and the new year.

Americans, however, had to import Christmas cards for thirty years. In 1875 Louis Prang, a German immigrant to the US, began the first mass-produced Christmas cards for sale to the domestic market. Above is one of my favourite Louis Prang Christmas cards. You can find a nice account of the history of Christmas cards here if you are looking for a bit more information.

Pue’s Occurrences would like to thank all of our readers for their support over the last year. We would like to wish everyone a Happy Chistmas and a prosperous New Year. We are taking a break for Christmas and will resume our regular posting schedule on 3 January 2011.