Heyday of the exotic Christmas card trade

Press, 10 December 1983, Page 21

Heyday of the exotic Christmas card trade

By

ROBYN JENKIN

It’s that time again, when the arrival of the first Christmas card heralds a blind panic over what has, and what has not, been done towards preparations for the festive season.

Every year, thousands of customers stand, several deep at the stationery counters of stores all over the country, buying up their cards. Yet, though the prices soar and the cards get bigger, the present day product is but a mere shadow of its Victorian counterpart.

Strangely, though it is so popular, the Christmas card was a relatively late starter on the commercial scene. Valentine cards had been around for many years, visiting cards had become steadily more elaborate, often with a Christmas wish added, but the Christmas card as we know it did not make its appearance until the early 1840 s. And there was a very good reason.

Before 1840, it was the recipient, and not the sender, who paid for the mail. The system worked on a mileage basis. Fourpence for mail within a radius of 15 miles, fivepence within 20 miles, up to one shilling for mail sent within a radius of 300 miles. A pile of Christmas cards arriving on the doorstep could be a distinct embarrassment.

About that time, however, several things came together to put the Christmas card fairly on the map. First, Rowland Hill’s Post Office Reform of 1840, and the subsequent introduction of the “Penny Post,” meant that postage was for the first time paid by the sender and the letter could be sent anywhere in Britain for the cost of one penny. Second, George Baxter developed his colour printing process. Third, the makers of the popular Valentine cards began to realise that here indeed was a potential moneyspinner. It is not surprising therefore that the first Christmas cards were reminiscent of the Victorian Valentine — a central motif of woven silk, or a Victorian “scrap” surrounded by machine-made paper lace. What is always considered to be

the first Christmas card was designed by John Calcott Horsley in 1843, at the suggestion of Sir Henry Cole, founder of the Victoria and Albert Museum. Fewer than 1000 copies were sold at the exorbitant price of one shilling. Exorbitant, because at that time a servant girl earned only £2O a year.

That first card showed all the characteristics of the Christmas spirit. Divided into three panels, it had a central scene of a genial family celebration, with panels on either side showing aspects of Christian charity — feeding and clothing the poor, who, of course could not afford the luxury of a Christmas card.

The first card was rapidly followed by others, and soon established printers, playing card manufacturers, and new chums were getting into the act. Marcus Ward, a Belfast publisher, opened a branch in London, and Christmas card production changed from a sideline to a great and expanding industry. De la Rue, the printers, developed a shiny surfaced card which became very popular, and Rahael Tuck, whose firm is still producing cards today, began offering prizes for the best Christmas card design. Many well-known artists such as Walter Crane, Kate Greenaway, and Mohr Smith, together with some famous Royal academicians, were not too proud to contribute designs.

By the early 1850 s, the first American card had been produced in New York, but the man regarded as the father of the American card was Louis Prang, whose invention of a printing technique using zinc plates put many of the British printers out of the Christmas card business.

The late 1800 s represents the peak of Christmas card production. With elaborate embossing and gilding, the Victorian card was indeed a thing of beauty. Sentimental verses were produced by such as Helen Marion Burnside, the “Poet Laureate of the Christmas Card,” said to have written as many as 6000 verses between 1874 and 1900.

By the 1870 s the picture postcard

was creeping in and inevitably took over the roll of the Christmas card, which declined rapidly after the death of Queen Victoria in 1901. Postcards became the main vehicle of correspondence during the Edwardian days and it was not until they, too, began their decline in the 1920 s that Christmas cards resurfaced as we know them. The art work on the card followed the trends of the day and perhaps the most beautiful were those produced during the Art Nouveau movement with its characteristic whip-lash lines. The more geometrical Art Deco period came at a low in the Christmas card development and the cards were never to regain the heights of design reached during their heyday.

Here in New Zealand, most cards were imported from Britain or Germany. Many had New Zealand themes but were produced for the New Zealand market by overseas printers. However, in the 1890 s, some were being lithographed by A. D. Willis of Wanganui. These rare items at last began to show a New Zealand Christmas of familiar scenery under a summer sky. Christmas cards are still big business. The style may have changed, the paper lace, embossing and gilding seldom seen, but the sentiment remains. At least once a year we can still wish our fellow mankind well.