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<\/a><\/p>\nChristmas card with illustrations of cats published by Raphael Tuck & Sons, Artistic Series 107, FIC.2025.460, Newport Historical Society collection.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n For many families, the arrival of a steady stream of Christmas cards marks the beginning of the holiday season. Some feature glossy pictures of children and pets, some are homemade with bubble letters and stickers, and others are purchased\u2014either hastily or with thought and care\u2014at a grocery store or pharmacy. Smiling Santas, holly wreaths and candles, or snowy scenery often grace front cover. Inside, or on the back, are well-wishes and updates from family and friends (or perhaps a bank or other corporate company). For many, sending and receiving Christmas cards is just one of many holiday traditions enacted each year.<\/p>\n Christmas card published by L. Prang & Co., 1884, FIC.2025.598, Newport Historical Society collection.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Prior to the 1840s, Christmas cards were not a standard fixture of the Christmas season in the United States.[1]<\/a> The early Puritan colonists banned Christmas celebrations, even implementing a fine for those who did.[2]<\/a> Eventually celebrations of Christmas came back into fashion, especially on the East Coast, although Christmas was not declared a federal holiday until 1870.[3]<\/a> The first commercial Christmas card is widely considered to have been created in England by artist John Callcott Horsley at the request of Henry Cole in 1843.[4]<\/a> Like today, early Christmas cards were \u201cprimarily sentimental and social object[s]\u201d that were used to \u201cexpress friendship, remembrance, good wishes or thanks.\u201d[5]<\/a><\/p>\n Christmas card published by Hall Brothers U.S.A, Hallmark Cards, FIC.2025.532, Newport Historical Society collection.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Many early English Christmas cards (which Americans heavily imported and used as a design model) were decorated with flowers, lace, leaves and birds\u2014imagery that was not the most \u201cappropriate to Christmas or winter.\u201d[6]<\/a><\/p>\n Pretty, colorful illustrations that caught the viewer\u2019s eye were more important.[7]<\/a> The production of these cards operated at the intersection of the Aesthetic Movement and Industrialization. While many Christmas cards fit the ideals of the Aesthetic Movement in bringing \u201cbeauty to the masses\u201d by creating high-quality chromolithographic prints, they were also mass produced using the newest forms of printing technology.[8]<\/a> This tension between ideas of \u2018true\u2019 art and commercialized art impacted how some people viewed Christmas cards as an object. Although early Christmas cards were often beautifully crafted with detailed illustrations, the small size, mass production, and association with women (many card designers were women and women were the main senders\/receivers) \u201ckept the aesthetic card firmly in the category of decorative rather than fine art.\u201d[9]<\/a> After the 1860s, Christmas cards were seen more and more as products of industrialization and commercialization\u2014soon lower printing costs led to lower purchasing prices and with design variation and mass production, sending and receiving cards became a Christmas tradition.[10]<\/a><\/p>\n Louis Prang, the \u201cFather of the American Christmas Card\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Christmas card published in Italy by E. Sborgi, FIC.2025.417, Newport Historical Society collection.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Louis Prang (1824-1909), a Prussian born lithographer, wood engraver, and publisher, is often considered the \u201cfather of the American Christmas Card.\u201d Prang moved to Boston in 1850 after studing wood and metal engraving, calico dying, and printing across Europe (as well as getting involved in some anti-Prussian government revolutionary activity).[11]<\/a> In 1851 he worked for Frank Leslie, art director of Gleason\u2019s Magazine<\/em>, making wood engraving illustrations for the publication.[12]<\/a> By 1856, he had left Leslie\u2019s employment and partnered with Julius Mayer to form Prang and Mayer, lithographic and copper plate manufacturers.[13]<\/a> When Mayer left the company in 1860, Prang became sole owner and changed the name to L. Prang & Co.[14]<\/a><\/p>\n Christmas postcard published by Ernest Nister, London and printed in Bavaria, sent to Miss A. R. Almy from Bessie in 1913, FIC.2025.724, Newport Historical Society collection.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n We cannot discuss Prang\u2019s Christmas cards without discussing the printing process of chromolithography. Lithography was invented in 1796 in Germany\u2014illustrations were made with a wax crayon on limestone treated with chemicals that would bond the wax to the stone. [15]<\/a> The stone could be inked many times to produced numerous prints, as the raised illustration would not flatten over time, nor could it be washed away by water.[16]<\/a> This led to lithography overtaking other printing methods in popularity for printers looking for consistent quality in, and large quantities of, their prints.[17]<\/a> In 1864, Prang traveled to Germany to study printing techniques and when he returned to Boston he introduced chromolithography to his workshop.[18]<\/a> Chromolithography uses the same techniques as lithography, only there are multiple stones to ink multiple colors. Previously, lithographers had printed black and white images and hand colored them.[19]<\/a> Prang realized with the chromolithography process he was able to create prints that mimicked oil paintings, at a much lower cost.[20]<\/a> Prang saw his use of chromolithography as a way to democratize access to art\u2014now anyone could purchase a reproduction of a classic work of art to decorate their home.[21]<\/a> However, many art critics of the time saw chromolithographic prints as \u201c[blurring] the lines between art and commerce\u201d which was destroying the sanctity of art.[22]<\/a> Dismissed by the established art world, Prang sent prints to many leading intellectuals\u2014including Lydia Maria Child, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Willam Dean Howells, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Frederick Douglas\u2014seeking endorsements about \u201cthe value of these prints for decorating the home and improving the tastes of the masses.\u201d[23]<\/a><\/p>\n Christmas card with images of Santa and Newport landmarks, FIC.2025.510, Newport Historical Society collection.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Louis Prang introduced Christmas cards to the American market in 1874 and they became a huge success.[24]<\/a> In the early 1880s, Prang held Christmas card design competitions with cash prizes.[25]<\/a> Judges included John La Farge, Samuel Colman, Stanford White, and Louis Comfort Tiffany.[26]<\/a> Winning artists included Dora Wheeler, Rosina Emmet, Alice Morse, Florence Taber, Elihu Vedder, Thomas Moran, J. Alden Weir, Walter Satterlee, Will Low, and Harry Beard.[27]<\/a> Prang also sponsored an essay writing contest in which the competitors wrote about the social and artistic influence of the Christmas card, the proper design elements, and how Prang\u2019s cards showcased these elements.[28]<\/a> Janet Huntington McKelvey\u2019s essay, \u201cThe Christmas Card,\u201d also addressed the question \u201chow could the image, mass-produced as a commodity for sale, retain aesthetic value?\u201d a query Prang was very interested in.[29]<\/a> At the time, Christmas was considered a \u201cfeminine sphere of action,\u201d and most of the permanent design staff at Prang\u2019s Boston studio were women.[30]<\/a> Prang continued printing Christmas cards until the early 1890s when cheaper German postcards began to flood the American market.[31]<\/a>\u00a0In 1897, L. Prang & Company merged with the Taber Art Company of New Bedford, MA., creating the Taber-Prang Company.[32]<\/a><\/p>\n Change At the Turn of the Century <\/strong><\/p>\n Handmade Christmas card, FIC.2025.647, Newport Historical Society collection.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n In the 1890s, there was a decline in American and English made Christmas cards, especially with Prang\u2019s retirement in 1899.[33]<\/a> People began exchanging \u201cgimcracks, doodads, and geegaws\u201d\u2014cheap, small gifts of poor quality\u2014instead of ornate, detailed, and lavish cards like Prang\u2019s.[34]<\/a> (After 1910, Christmas cards came back in favor as they were \u201cboth more personal and practical\u201d to send to family, friends, and acquaintances).[35]<\/a> In 1895, there was a decline in greeting card production in the United States and England as European printers could produce cheaper products.[36]<\/a> Almost all greeting cards were produced in Germany in the early 1900s.[37]<\/a> At the same time, lower postal rates and improved delivery service made postcard popularity soar.[38]<\/a> Christmas cards were no longer just for the well to-do, but for anyone who wished to send along a holiday greeting. Images on postcards sold for Christmas started becoming more \u201cChristmas-y\u201d than the earlier Christmas cards. Images of Santa, toys, Christmas trees, snow covered churches and houses, bells, holly, and poinsettias were popular.[39]<\/a> However, \u201cChristmas-y\u201d did not necessarily mean more religious, and secular themes and imagery were more popular.[40]<\/a> Christmas cards reflected the overall trend of commercialization of the holiday\u2014cards depicting new technology like airplanes, cars, and telephones were also fashionable.[41]<\/a> Karal Ann Marling writes in her book Merry Christmas!: Celebrating America\u2019s Greatest Holiday, <\/em>\u201cThe American card excluded acts of Christmas charity. Instead, it betrayed an avidly mercantile character, in keeping with the growing shopping component of the holiday in the United States.\u201d[42]<\/a><\/p>\n World Wars and the Later 20th<\/sup> Century<\/strong><\/p>\n Illustrated Christmas card made in France, sent by S\/SGT. Howard S. Wilson to Miss Emily Warren using U.S. Army Postal Service, 1945, FIC.2025.642, Newport Historical Society collection.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Between 1900-1910, most of the major American greeting card firms were established, including Hallmark, A.M. Davis Company, Rust Craft Greetings, American Greetings, and The P.F. Volland Company.[43]<\/a> WWI impacted the Christmas postcard business by suspending importation of cards from abroad\u2014most were made by German lithographers who created the prints for an American market.[44]<\/a> With the decline of postcards, the folded card with an image and\/or short text on the outside and a longer pre-written or blank space inside gained popularity.[45]<\/a> The National Association of Greeting Card Manufacturers formed in 1913 and in 1918 they launched a campaign to encourage Americans to buy more greeting cards\u2014regardless of brand.[46]<\/a> After the stock market crash in 1929, and following economic depression, there was a \u201cdo-it-yourself movement\u201d in card making.[47]<\/a> Homemade cards were printed using linoleum blocks on which a message or illustration was carved, inked, and pressed onto paper.[48]<\/a> In the 1940s, patriotic Christmas cards flew off the shelves and the greeting card business boomed during WWII as families sent cards to keep in touch with soldiers abroad.[49]<\/a> Sending Christmas continued gaining popularity\u2014in the 1950s an average family mailed out 100 cards during the season and in the early 2000s Americans sent around 2.9 billion Christmas cards each year.[50]<\/a> Today, the number of paper Christmas cards sent have started to decline as online e-cards, email, texting, and social media have become alternatives.[51]<\/a> The tradition of sending along a holiday greeting to friends and family continues\u2014even if in a new form. From the Horsley-Cole card to e-cards, the design of Christmas cards has gone through many changes. Yet the purpose and sentiments remain the same\u2014to wish one another well at the end of the year and happiness in the next.<\/p>\n For more Christmas cards, look at the Newport Historical Society\u2019s Collection of Holiday and Greeting Cards, 1840 \u2013 1991<\/a><\/p>\n Christmas card sent by Mr. and Mrs. John A. Roebling, FIC.2025.775, Newport Historical Society collection.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n [1]<\/a> Karal Ann Marling, Merry Christmas!: Celebrating America\u2019s Greatest Holiday<\/em> (Harvard University Press, 2000), 288,\u00a0 http:\/\/ebookcentral.proquest.com\/lib\/nyulibrary-ebooks\/detail.action?docID=3300577<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Nissenbaum, The Battle for Christmas, <\/em>4-5.<\/span><\/p>\n [3]<\/a> Philip Hancock, Organizing Christmas (Routledge, 2023), 39, https:\/\/doi-org.proxy.library.nyu.edu\/10.4324\/9781315637969<\/a> and Andy Thomas, Christmas: A Short History from Solstice to Santa<\/em> (Ivy Press, 2019), 25, http:\/\/proxy.library.nyu.edu\/login?url=https:\/\/search.ebscohost.com\/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=2323225&site=ehost-live&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_Cover_1<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n [4]<\/a> \u201cThe First Christmas Card,\u201d The Victoria & Albert Museum, accessed August 7, 2025, https:\/\/www.vam.ac.uk\/articles\/the-first-christmas-card?srsltid=AfmBOorWtAVj3k5oLjODlCu8Y6dDV59CdGHn0hNxREpuMUwKVk17HlvZ<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n [5]<\/a> Patricia Zakreski, \u201cThe Victorian Christmas Card as Aesthetic Object: \u2018Very Interesting Ephemerae of a Very Interesting Period in English Art-Production,\u2019\u201d Journal of Design History<\/em> 29, no. 2 (2016): 123, https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/44652020<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n [6]<\/a> . Bruce David Forbes, Christmas: A Candid History<\/em> (University of California Press, 2007), 119, https:\/\/doi-org.proxy.library.nyu.edu\/10.1525\/9780520933729<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n [7]<\/a> Marling, Merry Christmas!, <\/em>288-289.<\/span><\/p>\n [8]<\/a> Zakreski, \u201cThe Victorian Christmas Card as Aesthetic Object,\u201d 120.<\/span><\/p>\n [9]<\/a> Zakreski, \u201cThe Victorian Christmas Card as Aesthetic Object,\u201d 120-121.<\/span><\/p>\n [10]<\/a> Zakreski, \u201cThe Victorian Christmas Card as Aesthetic Object,\u201d 125.<\/span><\/p>\n [11]<\/a> Marybeth Kavanagh, \u201cLouis Prang, Father of the American Christmas Card,\u201d The New York Historical, From the Stacks<\/em> [Blog], December 19, 2012, https:\/\/www.nyhistory.org\/blogs\/prang<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n [12]<\/a> Kavanagh, \u201cLouis Prang.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n [13]<\/a> \u201cLouis Prang Papers, 1848-1932,\u201d Smithsonian Archives of American Art, accessed August 7, 2025, https:\/\/www.aaa.si.edu\/collections\/louis-prang-papers-9709\/biographical-note<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n [14]<\/a> Smithsonian, \u201cLouis Prang Papers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n [15]<\/a> \u201cLouis Prang and Chromolithography,\u201d American Antiquarian Society, accessed August 7, 2025, https:\/\/collections.americanantiquarian.org\/prang\/whatisachromo<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n [16]<\/a> American Antiquarian Society, \u201cLouis Prang and Chromolithography.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n [17]<\/a> American Antiquarian Society, \u201cLouis Prang and Chromolithography.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n [18]<\/a> Kavanagh, \u201cLouis Prang.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n [19]<\/a> Kavanagh, \u201cLouis Prang.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n [20]<\/a> American Antiquarian Society, \u201cLouis Prang and Chromolithography.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n [21]<\/a> Barry Shank, A Token of My Affection: Greeting Cards and American Business Culture<\/em> (Columbia University Press, 2004), 73.<\/span><\/p>\n [22]<\/a> Shank, A Token of My Affection<\/em>, 75.<\/span><\/p>\n [23]<\/a> Shank, A Token of My Affection<\/em>, 77-78.<\/span><\/p>\n [24]<\/a> Kavanagh, \u201cLouis Prang.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n [25]<\/a> Kavanagh, \u201cLouis Prang.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n [26]<\/a> Kavanagh, \u201cLouis Prang.\u201d For information on John La Farge\u2019s work in Newport, read Rebecca Dawson, \u201cThrough an Opalescent Lens: John La Farge\u2019s Stained Glass in Newport,\u201d Newport Historical Society Blog, July 24, 2025, https:\/\/newporthistory.org\/through-an-opalescent-lens-john-la-farges-stained-glass-in-newport-by-rebecca-dawson\/<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n [27]<\/a> Marling, Merry Christmas!<\/em>, 289.<\/span><\/p>\n [28]<\/a> Shank, A Token of My Affection<\/em>, 71.<\/span><\/p>\n [29]<\/a> Shank, A Token of My Affection<\/em>, 65 & 72.<\/span><\/p>\n [30]<\/a> Marling, Merry Christmas!<\/em>, 290.<\/p>\n [31]<\/a> Kavanagh, \u201cLouis Prang.\u201d<\/p>\n [32]<\/a> \u201cTaber Prang Art Co.,\u201d Meibohm Fine Arts, accessed August 19, 2025, https:\/\/www.meibohmfinearts.com\/artists\/details\/739<\/a>.<\/p>\n [33]<\/a> Ernest Dudly Chase, The Romance of Greeting Cards: A Historical Account of the Origin, Evolution and Development of Christmas Cards, Valentines and Other Forms of Greeting Cards from the Earliest Days to the Present Time <\/em>(Rust Craft Publishers, 1956), 33, https:\/\/babel.hathitrust.org\/cgi\/pt?id=coo.31924014503555&seq=10<\/a>.<\/p>\n [34]<\/a> Forbes, Christmas: A Candid History<\/em>, 119.<\/p>\n [35]<\/a> Forbes, Christmas: A Candid History<\/em>, 119.<\/p>\n [36]<\/a> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Greeting Card,”\u00a0Encyclopedia Britannica<\/em>, March 15, 2024, https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/greeting-card<\/a>.<\/p>\n [37]<\/a> Britannica, “Greeting Card.”<\/p>\n [38]<\/a> Forbes, Christmas: A Candid History<\/em>, 119.<\/p>\n [39]<\/a> Marling, Merry Christmas!<\/em>, 308.<\/p>\n [40]<\/a> Marling, Merry Christmas!<\/em>, 314.<\/p>\n [41]<\/a> Marling, Merry Christmas!<\/em>, 308.<\/p>\n [42]<\/a> Marling, Merry Christmas, <\/em>288.<\/p>\n [43]<\/a> Marling, Merry Christmas, <\/em>309-310.<\/p>\n [44]<\/a> Marling, Merry Christmas!<\/em>, 308-309.<\/p>\n [45]<\/a> Marling, Merry Christmas, <\/em>308-9.<\/p>\n [46]<\/a> Marling, Merry Christmas, <\/em>311.<\/p>\n [47]<\/a> Marling, Merry Christmas, <\/em>315.<\/p>\n [48]<\/a> Marling, Merry Christmas, <\/em>315.<\/p>\n [49]<\/a> Marling, Merry Christmas,<\/em> 316.<\/p>\n [50]<\/a> Marling, Merry Christmas,<\/em> 317 and Michelle Goth, \u201cIs This the End of Christmas Cards? 5 Creative Ways to Spread Holiday Cheer Without the Mailbox,\u201d The Seattle Times<\/em>, December 4, 2024, https:\/\/www.seattletimes.com\/life\/food-drink\/is-this-the-end-of-christmas-cards-5-creative-ways-to-spread-holiday-cheer-without-the-mailbox\/#:~:text=In%20the%20early%202000s%2C%20TIME,Christmas%20cards%20now%20sent%20annually<\/a>..<\/p>\n [51]<\/a> Goth, \u201cIs This the End of Christmas Cards?\u201d<\/p>\n The post \u201cMerry Christmas and a Happy New Year\u201d: The American Christmas Card from 1840-2000<\/a> appeared first on Newport Historical Society<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This is a guest blog post by Erika Herman, a recent graduate of New York University, where she earned a master\u2019s degree in museum studies. Erika was a 2025 Buchanan Burnham Fellow. Christmas card with illustrations of cats published by Raphael Tuck & Sons, Artistic Series 107, FIC.2025.460, Newport Historical Society collection. For many families, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12032],"tags":[204,236,336,1868,362,629],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-334550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-american-history","tag-american","tag-card","tag-christmas","tag-happy","tag-merry","tag-year"],"yoast_head":"\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n