TRP Advent Calendar 18 - The Origin of Christmas Cards
18
Behind our today's door we will go a little bit into the tradition of greeting cards at Christmas time. Where do they actually come from originally? Are you planning to send a Christmas greeting? Why not do it this year in the style of the old days?
The first Christmas greetings from England
The first Christmas greeting card probably comes from England. It was sent by the German doctor Michael Maier to King James I of England and his son Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales in 1611.
The words were:
„Ein Gruß zum Geburtstag des Heiligen Königs, an den verehrungswürdigsten und energetischsten Herrn und eminentesten James, König von Großbritannien und Irland und Verteidiger des wahren Glaubens, mit einer Geste der freudigen Feier des Geburtstags des Herrn, in der wir in das neue glücksverheißende Jahr 1612 eintreten.“
From then on Christmas greetings were sent again and again. The first commercial Christmas card was designed by John Callcott Horsley in 1843.
The first commercial Christmas greeting card from 1843
