Oldest Christmas Card

Last Updated on Monday, 20 December 2010 05:54 Written by DarkBlak Sunday, 23 December 2007 07:40

Oldest Christmas Card

A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You

What is believed to be one of the first mass-produced Christmas cards — dating back more than 160 years — can be found among the extensive special collections of Bridwell Library at Southern Methodist University’s Perkins School of Theology.

The lithographed card caused a controversy in some quarters of Victorian English society when it was published in 1843 because it prominently features a child taking a sip from a glass of wine.

Approximately 1,000 copies of the card were printed but only 10 have survived to modern times. Bridwell Library acquired its copy in 1982. The card was designed for Henry Cole by his friend, the English painter John Calcott Horsley (1808-1882). Cole wanted a ready-to-mail greeting card because he was too busy to engage in the traditional English custom of writing notes with Christmas and New Year’s greetings to friends and family.

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