Sending Seasons Greetings By Christmas Card

In Ireland and America today you'll find an amazing selection of festive Christmas cards, from religious to nostalgic, funny to cute, and modern to vintage designs.

Today, let's take a look back at how and when the tradition of exchanging greeting cards at Christmas time began.

We'll also examine the history of Christmas cards in Ireland.

I've included links to free Irish blessing Christmas card printables, at the end of this post.

Plus you'll find free printable Christmas postcards with pretend stamps, for your little ones to have some greeting card fun in the lead up to Christmas.

Table of Contents

The First Recorded Christmas Card

The first known Christmas cards were sent to King James I of England and his son Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales by Michael Maier, a German philosopher in 1611.

This little piece of history was first discovered in 1979 by Adam McLean in the Scottish Record Office.

The cards featured a rose image in Rosicrucian style with the following message -

"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 joy and fortune, we enter into the new auspicious year 1612."

We're lucky that mouthful of a greeting has been shortened down to "Merry Christmas."

The First Victorian Christmas Card

The first Victorian era Christmas card was created by artist J.C. Horsley on behalf of Henry Cole, a prominent member of elite London society. The year was 1843.

The British postal system had recently introduced the “Penny Post,” which meant a letter or card could be sent anywhere in the United Kingdom for just a penny.

Back then, it was impolite not to respond to a letter, and there was an old English custom of sending a Christmas or New Year letter to friends. Now, Henry Cole had a big problem. He simply had too many friends and he was anxious about how on earth he could respond to so many Christmas letters.

He came up with the ingenious idea of commissioning a painting to be printed on a card, so that he could quickly respond to all the festive letters he was receiving.

Horsley's illustration featured a central image of a family sitting at a table celebrating Christmas with a few glasses of wine, surrounded by other images of people helping the poor. With a printed greeting of “A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year To You” there was no need for Cole to write long individual letters.

He simply had to fill in the blanks, where there were spaces for names in a "To___________” and “From_____________” format.

He paid a London printer to produce 1,000 copies on stiff cardboard. His first Christmas card measured 5 by 3¼ inches, and in a jiffy they were on their way to Cole's family and friends via the new penny post.

Christmas Card Scandal

Cole and Horsley's first Christmas card's illustration included children enjoying a sip or a gulp of what appears to be wine.

At that time there was a strong temperance movement in the United Kingdom, including Ireland. Those who did not approve of alcohol were definitely not amused by this card, and much criticism ensued. Cole put his Christmas card idea on hold for a few years.

However, many of the upper classes who had received his Christmas card appreciated Cole's wonderful, time saving idea. A few years later many Victorian families commissioned their own cards and the tradition of sending Christmas cards began.

By the 1870s, Christmas cards were really in vogue. Our current day design of folded cards with festive images became the in thing. Christmas cards of all sizes and prices were created to suit the pockets of rich and poor alike.

The First American Christmas Card

Louis Prang, a Prussian immigrant and print shop owner who lived just outside Boston created the first Christmas card in America. The year was 1875.

Prang's festive card was simple with a painting of a flower. It's greeting was “Merry Christmas.” As Christmas cards were adopted and printed by Americans they chose not to feature nativity scenes, or holiday parties and celebrations.

Instead, they tended to choose vivid reproductions of animals and nature scenes.

The First Personalized Card

Credit for the first personalized Christmas card with a "selfie" of the day goes to none other than Annie Oakley, the famous American sharpshooter who was a star performer with the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show.

In 1891 Annie was in Glasgow touring with the show. She had a special tartan outfit made the first time they visited Scotland. In December 1891 the show returned to Glasgow and Annie wore her tartan gear for a photo shoot at the Watson & Wilson Studios, on Jamaica Street in Glasgow.

Annie was so pleased with the image, that she decided to send a copy to her family and friends in the USA for Christmas, and that's how the first photographic Christmas card was created.

I suppose we could say "Annie, Get Your Christmas Card."

Why Robins Are Featured On Christmas Greetings

Many Christmas cards feature robins, especially in Ireland and the UK.

This tradition dates back to the 1880s, when Royal Mail postmen wore bright red uniforms. These postmen were nicknamed "robins" since their uniforms reflected the color of the robin's red breast.

Pictures of robins started appearing on Victorian Christmas cards, bearing letters in their beaks.

Other folklore tales associate the robin with Christmas. An English story tells how the fire in the stable started to die as Mary was giving birth. The robin used its wings to fan the flames and keep the new born Baby Jesus warm.

Mary thanked the little bird by declaring it would wear a red breast from that day forward, as a symbol of its kind heart.

Irish Christmas Cards

In the early 20th century the Christmas cards sold in Ireland were printed in Germany. In 1916 the First World War impeded the importation of these greeting cards.

Constance Markievicz, who participated in the 1916 Rising in Ireland noticed that the festive cards from Germany had been replaced by patriotic English ones. She was unwilling to send these cards after the Irish Rising so she set about designing a series of Irish cards.

The Irish Christmas card was born. In Dublin, Walker’s Tower Press started publishing genuinely Irish Christmas cards featuring images by Irish artists like Jack Butler Yeats, brother of our most famous poet, William Butler Yeats.

Irish people were encouraged to send cards abroad, and to use Irish-made cards. Printers started using Celtic interlacing patterns, embossed emblems, and Irish mottoes, on cards printed with green ink and sometimes decorated with green ribbons.

Charity Christmas Cards

Christmas cards continue to be sent throughout Ireland and the United States to this very day. The number of cards sent, especially in Ireland, is decreasing in recent years as people adopt the tradition of sending virtual greetings and mass texts to all their family and friends.

Christmas cards in Ireland are often printed by charity organizations as an annual fund raising drive. The first charity Christmas card was launched by Unicef in 1949.

In America personalized family portrait cards are extremely popular. I love this tradition of recording our changing and growing families through the years.

Christmas Stamps

The Irish postal service, An Post, prints special stamps for Christmas each year.

In 1954 the first nativity stamp was printed back. Ireland produced a stamp showing the Madonna and Child by Italian sculptor Luca della Robbia.

However, this stamp wasn't intentionally printed to commemorate Christmas. It was in fact created to mark the Marian year of 1953 to 1954.

In 1959 a nativity scene featured on an Irish Christmas stamp. Every year the postal service produces new designs for Christmas.

Inflation has affected postage costs for sure. The 1977 Christmas stamp featured above only cost 8 pence. Today it costs €1 to send a card within Ireland, and international post is far more expensive at €1.70 per card.

The tradition of printing Christmas stamps has also been adopted by the United States Postal Service.

Free Printable Christmas Postcards and Stamps

Since Christmas cards are such an important part of Irish and American cultural traditions, I thought it would be fun to add a card activity for little ones to enjoy at Christmas time.

Here you'll find files that can be printed at home.

The first one is for the Santa postcards.

Simply click on the image above or right here and you'll be taken to a PDF image of this card.

Plus you can also print a page of pretend stamps for little ones to practice their scissors skills.

You can click on the image above for the stamp printable or right here, and you'll open the printable PDF file.

Irish Blessing Celtic Design Printables

Here are some links to my Irish Blessing Christmas Designs which you're welcome to print and share with loved ones.

These links are for portrait card size prints which are 5 inches wide by 7 inches high.

If you need a different size you'll find the link to each individual blessing post beneath the image. There you'll find links for multiple sizes of each free printable.

Read more about this blessing above and find additional printing sizes here.

Read more about this blessing above and find additional printing sizes here.

Read more about this blessing above and find additional printing sizes here.

Read more about this blessing above and find additional printing sizes here.

Read more about this blessing above and find additional printing sizes here.

Read more about this blessing above and find additional printing sizes here.

Plus you'll find a collection of many more Irish Christmas blessings here.

Happy Christmas To All

I hope you enjoyed this little history of Christmas cards, and their significance in Irish culture.

• Irish Christmas Traditions
• DIY Homemade Candles
• A Candle in the Window
• Christmas Cribs in Irish Homes
• Irish Christmas Annuals

I hope these Irish blessings provide you with a little inspiration as you write your Christmas messages this year.

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