Christmas--"Blah humbug" or "God bless us everyone?"

Have you started writing your Christmas cards yet? I'm sure you know which of your friends will be the first to have a card in your mailbox. You know which one will send you the long detailed list of things they've done during the past year—called the Christmas Letter. You may wish to call it "Sing your own praises." Mrs. K and I are procrastinators. We send ours out so late they're into the beginning into the New Year; they're called "Epiphany Epistles."

The Christmas card started out in Victorian England in 1843. It was helped along by the development of the public penny post and the speed with which the new railroads could deliver mail. They started out as a kind of stationery. Sir Henry Cole, a British Postal Service employee, together with John Callcott Horsley, an artist, created the first card. This early card showed Christmas scenes in three panels. The center panel had children, parents and grandparents seated at a table, with some raising their glasses for a toast. It caused controversy because it showed a small child drinking wine. The side panels showed acts of Christmas charity: the left panel feeding the hungry; the right, clothing the naked. Underneath was the familiar phrase " A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You."

Early English cards rarely showed winter or religious themes, instead were pictures of flowers, fairies and other fanciful designs to reminded us of the approach of Spring. Humorous and sentimental images of children and animals were popular, as were increasingly elaborate shapes, decorations and materials

In Germany, manufactured Christmas cards boomed in the 1860s. The earliest known Christmas card posted in Finland dates from 1871. In 1875, Louis Prang became the first printer to offer cards in America. Advances in printing techniques added to the popularity of Christmas cards as they made their real breakthrough in the 1920s.

So you really don't need to mail out Christmas Cards, as the tradition is not that old. You can call up your friends and wish them Season Greetings or you can Email them—like I just did. From Mrs. K. and I to you and your household "A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You."

K.