{"id":2480,"date":"2020-11-30T15:01:06","date_gmt":"2020-11-30T15:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.doxzoo.com\/?p=2480"},"modified":"2020-11-30T15:01:06","modified_gmt":"2020-11-30T15:01:06","slug":"9-interesting-facts-about-christmas-cards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doxzoo.com\/blog\/9-interesting-facts-about-christmas-cards\/","title":{"rendered":"9 Interesting Facts About Christmas Cards"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Every year, we send millions of Christmas Cards all-around the world to friends and family, but do you know where this tradition originally came from?<\/p>\n\n\n

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Christmas Cards allow us to spread cheer and express sentiments for the festive season, which is even more poignant this year<\/a>, as many of us will be unable to spend Christmas with our loved ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, whether you\u2019re simply curious, or perhaps find some ideas for a Christmas Zoom quiz, we have nine facts about Christmas Cards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Origins<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The first recorded cards were sent in 1611 by a German physician, Michael Maier, to James I of England.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, it was 200 years later when civil servant Sir Henry Cole, had the idea for a commercial card and commissioned his artist friend, John Horsley, to design it. They are both credited with the invention of the modern Christmas card<\/a> in 1843, of which around 1,000 were sold at the cost of a shilling each.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A shilling was a day\u2019s wage for a labouring man. By comparison, today\u2019s minimum wage is nearly \u00a370!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Original Christmas Card Design<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Early Christmas cards were influenced by Valentines and featured \u2018paper lace\u2019 designs \u2013 embossed and pierced paper. They opened to reveal flowers and religious symbols and were prompted by new printing processes and techniques.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Victorian period cards were considered tasteful but expensive. Cards were exchanged, displayed and collected in vast numbers. The Victorians established the familiar iconography of Christmas, such as winter scenes of robins, holly, evergreens, churches and snowy landscapes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christmas Cards and the USA<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The first Christmas card in the US is credited to Louis Prang who owned a print shop near Boston. Prang\u2019s card was a painting of a flower and simply read \u201cMerry Christmas\u201d. This was a more subtle approach that defined the first generation of American Christmas cards. It also made it easier for mass-producing cards, allowing more people to buy them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Card as We Know it<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The cards as we know them today – with a fold down the middle and an envelope – didn\u2019t appear until the early 20th century. Frustrated with the choices available, the Hall Brothers, later known as Hallmark, created the folded card concept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They had realised that people didn\u2019t have enough room to write everything they wanted to say on a postcard-type greeting. Their new format, which became the standard for greetings cards, was ideal for those who didn\u2019t want to write an entire letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buying Christmas Cards<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The UK buys up to 100 million single Christmas Cards for parents, friends, partners, children, and more. That figure rises to 900 million when packs of cards are taken into consideration, many of which are sold by charities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An estimated \u00a350 million is raised for charities by selling their Christmas cards each year. The idea for raising money for charities with Christmas cards originated in Denmark. Furthermore, 45 per cent of all cards sent are for Christmas but only 15 per cent are bought by men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are wanting to design your own Christmas Cards this year, and need printed greeting cards online<\/a> in the UK, talk to us today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whether you\u2019re simply curious, or perhaps find some ideas for a Christmas Zoom quiz, we have nine facts about Christmas Cards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2455,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2480","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/doxzoo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/doxzoo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/doxzoo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doxzoo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doxzoo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2480"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/doxzoo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2480\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4132,"href":"https:\/\/doxzoo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2480\/revisions\/4132"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doxzoo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/doxzoo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doxzoo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doxzoo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}