Christmas Cards
With Christmas being the most popular holiday of the year it is no wonder that in the United States alone there are over 2.9 billion Christmas cards purchased each year. That averages out to approximately 28 Christmas cards per household. They have become as much a part of the Christmas tradition as decorating the Christmas tree.
John Horsley created the first Christmas card in 1843 for Sir Henry Cole. Sir Henry Cole needed to find a way to replace the Christmas greetings that he traditionally sent out because he no longer had the time that it took to hand write them all. Unfortunately, the Christmas cards that John Horsley created for Sir Henry Cole were not received well because they featured a child sipping from a cup of wine, which was interpreted as promoting the moral corruption of children. Although these first Christmas cards were not a success, they did spur the creation of other Christmas cards that would eventually become an integral part of the Christmas tradition.
Since 1843, Christmas cards have gone through some significant changes. They have gone from extravagant post-card like cards in the early 1900's to the more traditional cards that we see today. Now you can purchase them in different sizes and shapes with just about any design or message that you could possibly think of. You can even create your own personalized photo Christmas cards by either doing them yourself on the computer or having them done by a professional photo-processing center.
One type of Christmas card that is becoming more and more popular is the E-Card (Electronic Card). In a world where everything we do revolves around computers, it only makes sense that we would create computerized greeting cards. They eliminate the cost of going to the store and purchasing a box of Christmas cards as well as the time that it would take to hand sign all of those cards. It is less expensive and less time consuming to go online, find a card that fits our needs, and send it to all of our friends via email. However, because there are still many that believe that traditional Christmas cards are the only meaningful way to send Christmas greetings, there will always be the need for boxed Christmas cards.
Christmas cards will probably be around for as long as Christmas exists. They are a great way to let your friends and family know that you are thinking of them during the holiday season. It will be interesting to see what Christmas cards are like thirty or forty years from now.