A Little Christmas Card Trivia!

Oh, do we LOVE Christmas cards! Pictured above is our boy, Wolf, with just some of the (p)awesome cards from furpals across the globe as part of Blogville's Holiday Card Exchange! The FiveSibes kids get waaaaaaaaaaay more cards than us hu-family members! But it's so much fun to see them all come in! This photo flashes back to Christmas 2012 (I believe the finally total tally of FiveSibes cards was 88 that year! Us humans? About 18!) They have been coming in via sled mail and Email and we are so excited to start opening them this year! The card exchange is truly a highlight of the season! 

 

How About A Little Christmas Card Trivia?!

The origins of greeting cards began in the 14th century as wood-block printed New Year’s cards from Germany. 

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The first Christmas greeting cards, called "Christmas Pieces," were of made by English schoolchildren in the 18th Century to bring home to their parents.

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The modern Christmas card as we know it, was first designed by artist John Calcott Horsley for his friend Sir Henry Cole.

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Sir Henry Cole started the custom of sending Christmas cards in the United Kingdom in 1843. Cole, who was a civil servant was apparently fascinated by the new public postal system and he wanted to come up with a way it could be used more by the people.

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Due to the card's popularity, a year later saw the first "mass production" of the Christmas card when 1,000 cards were printed and sold for one schilling apiece.

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Sending of the Christmas cards became popular, aided by the fact that the Postal Act of 1840 allowed people to send the cards to family and friends anywhere in the United Kingdom for a "penny post," a cost of just one penny each. This became even more popular in 1870 when the cost to send a greeting dropped in price to a halfpenny.

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The first American greeting cards were printed in Boston, Massachusetts by lithographer Louis Prang, a Prussian immigrant, in 1875 with the simple greeting "Merry Christmas." 

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The first - and still the most popular today - greeting on a Christmas card is "A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you." 

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Although we are a little late to our own Flashback Friday party (blame it on the WiFi), I'd like to thank you for stopping by, and please do visit our new co-host Love is Owned by A Husky, who just happens to be wrapping up a countdown to Christmas handmade jewelry sale! This mother-daughter duo creates really lovely work, and they have a seasonal sale going on for what would make some great holiday gifts! Stop by, and be sure to tell them Santa's FiveSibes elves sent you!

FiveSibes