A Little Christmas Greeting Card Trivia
I thought looking into the history of the greeting card might be a fun activity with the holiday season nearly upon us. Doing so, I discovered a plethora of history, statistics and fun trivia. So, at this very busy time of year, take a moment to sit back and educate yourself about the traditions and history of the Christmas Card.
– The ancient Chinese utilized written greeting cards. The New Year was often celebrated by sending greeting cards containing messages of good will. In Egypt, the ancient peoples sent greetings written on papyrus scrolls. New Year’s greeting cards were printed by the Germans by as early as the year 1400.
– England originated the Christmas card. They were invented by school boys who wanted to practice their writing skills. The boys would create Christmas greetings for the mother and father.
– Sir Henry Cole had the first Christmas Cards commissioned in London in 1843. Sir Henry was simply too busy that year to compose individual greetings. The words inside the card simply read “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You”. The picture on the card was a John Callcott Horsley illustration; it showed members of a happy family hugging each other and raising glasses of Christmas cheer to the card’s recipient. As the design promoted drunkenness, the critics condemned it.
– Louis Prang is credited with producing America’s first commercial Christmas Cards. He immigrated from Germany and, in 1856, opened a small lithographic business on the outskirts of Boston. The beginning of the American greeting card industry is usually credited to him. In the year 1881 he was already making 5,000,000+ cards a year. His card creations grew in popularity throughout the 1890s. Prang was forced to abandon his greeting card business when cheap imports began to overtake the market.
– The first official White House card was issued in 1953 by President Eisenhower. The White House mailed 2000 cards in 1961. That figured had snowballed to nearly 1.5 million by 2005.
– Now you can buy your Christmas cards singly or in boxed sets. Boxed card sets are better suited to larger Christmas card mailings, while individual cards are usually purchased for special individuals. The great majority of holiday cards are sold in boxes.
– Around 2 billion Americans sent cards in 2006.
– In 2006, 85% of American sent cards.
– A third of all holiday cards contain a religious message.
– The holidays account for nearly one third of yearly greeting card sales.
– More Christmas cards are sent than any other kind of greeting card. Christmas card sales total 60% of seasonal card revenue. Sales of Valentine’s Day cards comes in second place and accounts for 25% of total card sales.
– It is estimated that there are 3,000 greeting card publishers in the U.S.
– The greeting “Merry Christmas” is preferred by 53% of us. 21% like “Happy Holidays” and 12% prefer “Season’s Greetings”.
– When deciding which boxed cards to buy, 56% of people decide by the variety of cards offered, and 63% of people decide based on price. These conditions can both be satisfied by shopping with an online distributor. Online stores are not limited by space like physical stores, and can thus offer a greater selection.
I hope you have been entertained by these Christmas card facts. Don’t feel like you’re the only one obsessed with the greeting card ritual. You are not alone!