Public
- Public
- Network
- Groups
- Featured
- Popular
- People

This is the first commercially available Christmas Card commissioned by Henry Cole in 1843. It was sent by him to his grandmother & sold at auction in 2001 for £22,500. The card shows three generations of a family in Victorian attire. The elderly folks are on the left, a woman with a bonnet and a shawl around her shoulders, and her balding, slightly overweight husband. On the right are their children, a young blonde woman with a lace shawl, and her husband, a light blonde man somewhere in his 20s. There is a second young couple, likely their siblings. The two young couples' children are seen in the distance. All three generations drink red wine. The people are framed by branches and wine leaves, and two scenes of pencilled domesticity.

Download link

This is the first commercially available Christmas Card commissioned by Henry Cole in 1843. It was sent by him to his grandmother & sold at auction in 2001 for £22,500. The card shows three generations of a family in Victorian attire. The elderly folks are on the left, a woman with a bonnet and a shawl around her shoulders, and her balding, slightly overweight husband. On the right are their children, a young blonde woman with a lace shawl, and her husband, a light blonde man somewhere in his 20s. There is a second young couple, likely their siblings. The two young couples' children are seen in the distance. All three generations drink red wine. The people are framed by branches and wine leaves, and two scenes of pencilled domesticity.
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/115/631/384/985/371/229/original/b84494d8d022b6eb.jpg

Notices where this attachment appears

Embed this notice
mythologyandhistory (mythologyandhistory@mas.to)'s status on Saturday, 29-Nov-2025 15:53:19 JST mythologyandhistory

Did you know that the 1st commercial #Christmas card was a #marketing scheme for a new #postal service?
In the #UK, prior to the 1840s, letters were paid by distance & sheets. This was expensive & poorer households rarely used it.
Some men decided to implement a general rate of 1 penny per letter.
While this doubled the letters sent in the 1st year, it was financially bad for the government.
Entrepreneur Henry Cole commissioned the first Xmas Card in 1843. It was a rousing success.
#history

In conversation about 6 months ago from mas.to permalink