1880s Christmas Card
Seasons greetings from Tiny Tuesday!
Delicate and diminutive, this 1880s Christmas card is bordered by Red silk fringe and depicts wintery nature scenes on both sides of the card. The front reads “A Joyful Season Be Yours,” while the reverse reads “With the Season’s Greetings.” The card is a chromolithograph, which was a unique method used for creating colored prints. This card is by an identified maker.
The tradition of sending Christmas cards dates back to 1843, when Sir Henry Cole (1808-1882) created decorative cards with a universal format that could be filled in by the sender. Before this, letters were typically sent during Christmas and New Years, but busy social schedules made it difficult to keep up with the holiday correspondence. Boston printer Louis Prang (1824-1909) is credited with creating the first Christmas cards available in the US in 1875! This delightful card and others can be viewed during our Holiday Open House!