Early Christmas Postcard
Christmas is only a few weeks away and I am opening
and enjoying each of the few Holiday greeting cards that appear in my mailbox.
Even though I know those from my accountant, car dealership, and insurance man
aren’t truly Christmas greetings, but rather reminders of their services, I
still welcome them!
Everyone has a special Christmas tradition. Exchanging
Christmas cards was perhaps my favorite. Years ago, I sent and received
dozens of Christmas cards. Those beautiful cards sent by friends and family were
filled with greetings, notes, photographs of kids and pets, and those printed annual
letters of family happenings. I read them all, grateful that once each year,
faraway friends and family remembered and cared to keep in touch! Like so many others, I decorated doorways,
mantels, and our Christmas tree with them. And, when the Holidays were over, I read them
again, saved addresses, put photos in frames, and packed away those beautiful cards
to be looked at again the following year.
The tradition of exchanging Christmas greetings
between friends and family that began in the 1870s is rapidly vanishing. Today,
every hour of every day is jam packed. During the Holidays, it’s doubly so. The
cost of cards and postage has gone sky high! E-cards (and emails in general)
are faster and oh so much cheaper! There’s Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, blogs,
and Instagram. And, the cost of those once ever-so expensive long distance
calls, are now hidden in our cell phone plans.
It was the German lithographer, Louis Prang, who, in
1875, began mass producing affordable cards that made it possible for Americans
to begin the tradition of exchanging greetings at Christmastime. His earliest
cards featured children, robins, flowers, plants, and snow scenes. They were things
of beauty - often adorned with ribbons, lace, satin, and fringe. Although
Prang’s cards were the most popular, they were not the cheapest. Prices ranged
from 75 cents to $1.25. To stimulate interest, Prang ran design contests with
prize money reaching as high as a $1,000.
By 1890, all sorts of companies were producing Christmas cards. The
market was flooded with cheap cards. Prang quit in frustration.
It was really the postcard boom that
ended the production of those beautiful early Victorian cards. The “penny
postcard” made it inexpensive to buy and send cards. Many of the early
American, German, and British cards featured beautiful colored illustrations of
birds, bells, angels, dolls, toys, trees, religious scenes, and Santas.
Originals are still sought after by collectors. Postcards with Santa Claus
wearing a robe in brown, green, blue (like the one above), purple, and even pink remain among the favorites. Embossing
and silver and gold embellishments make them even more special.
Today, many of the designs have been
reproduced and are for sale in stores and on the Internet. I’ve purchased some
and I plan to do my part to continue the tradition of exchanging Christmas
greetings. May you continue your favorite tradition and
spread the joy of the Holiday Season!
A version of this post appears in Lifestyles2000.
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