Monday, December 21, 2009

A day without Christmas cards in December...

Is a sad day indeed.

Today my mailbox is empty, so I went through my last year's stash.

I love all things Christmas, but I have always loved "real mail," and I admittedly can't wait to get home each day to check my mail and read my Christmas cards. In a season whose popular mantra is "It is more blessed to give than receive," I do participate and agree, but I find it extremely blessed to receive cards every day in the mail. I have them displayed around door entryways, on my fridge, on my Christmas-tree-Christmas-card-holder, etc., and I love to look at them.

Since I came up empty today, I thought I'd research the history of the Christmas card. Pictured below is the world's first commercially produced Christmas card, designed by John Callcott Horsley for Sir Henry ColeQueen Victoria issued official Christmas cards in the 1840's, and the trend caught on in America in 1875. Cards have always ranged from religious to secular, and in the 1900's, a handmade card surge became popular. The most recent trend is the photo card, which has gained popularity as families have tried to correspond with members both near and far.

Merry Christmas!



3 comments:

Kristy said...

False Alarms, friends! My mail hadn't come yet! :)

Jesse Faris said...

Whew! I share your excitement in opening up the mailbox in December. (Your card turned out VERY cute this year, by the way!)

McKinney Madness said...

I agree with Jess, your Christmas card was adorable! Jess gets the award for the most hilarious though... I laughed my head off!!