Hanc Podcast: History of the Christmas Card

For the 135th episode of the Journalism History podcast, writer John Hanc describes his research on the history of Christmas cards for an article that ran in Smithsonian Magazine.

Transcript 

John Hanc: Apparently, some folks took umbrage at the idea of this underage drinking being celebrated and promoted in this newfangled Christmas card. 

Teri Finneman: Welcome to Journalism History, a podcast that rips out the pages of your history books to reexamine the stories you thought you knew and the ones you were never told. I’m Teri Finneman, and I research media coverage of women in politics. 

Nick Hirshon: [00:00:30] And I’m Nick Hirshon, and I research the history of New York sports. 

Ken Ward: And I’m Ken Ward, and I research the journalism history of the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains. 

Teri Finneman: And together, we are professional media historians guiding you through our own drafts of history. Transcripts of the show are available at journalism-history.org/podcast. This episode is sponsored by Taylor & Francis, the publisher of our academic journal, Journalism History. 

This holiday season, we’re taking a look at the history of one [00:01:00] of the biggest mass communication events of the year: the buying and sending of the annual family Christmas card. Hallmark reports that about 1.3 billion cards are sent each year. It’s not exactly journalism history, although we know the history of the Christmas card thanks to a newspaper.

In December 1883, John Horsley wrote a letter to the editor wanting to clear up a historical fact that had been published in the paper. While indeed he had created the very [00:01:30] first Christmas card, he said the idea to make one in the first place needed to be credited to Henry Cole. 

In today’s show, we explore the history of the Christmas card with today’s guest, John Hanc of the New York Institute of Technology. He is a longtime contributing writer to the New York Times, Newsday and the Smithsonian Magazine‘s website. John, welcome to the show. Several years ago, you wrote about the history of the Christmas card for Smithsonian Magazine. How did [00:02:00] you get interested in the topic? 

John Hanc: First of all, thanks for having me, Teri. It’s a pleasure to be with you. I just was like any journalist, always curious about interesting story angles. I think I had received a Christmas card (laughs), which is a rarity these days which is maybe something we can chat about a a bit later. And it occurred to me, well, who came up with this idea anyway? Um, I did some [00:02:30] internet searches and found that there’s this wonderful story behind the first Christmas card.

Teri Finneman: Yeah, so let’s get into that because it is an interesting story. So the first Christmas card was sent in 1843. Talk about who sent it and the story behind why he did it. 

John Hanc: Yes, it was a gentleman named Henry Cole, who was a very prominent public official in England at the time. I believe he worked for the Exchequer. Basically, [00:03:00] I don’t wanna call him a bean counter because I think he was actually a financial reformer, you know, government finance.

But what history remembers him for today is the problem or the frustration that he had back during the holiday season of 1843, because up to that point, and I learned this during my reporting for the Smithsonian story. Folks back then wrote letters around the holidays. That was an old tradition even by [00:03:30] 1843. 

So you would write a lengthy letter and I would fill you in kind of like those cards you sometimes get, and I know a lot of people roll their eyes when they get these. Somebody says, “Here is our year-end review. We visited the kids in Florida in December and blah-blah-blah.” You know, that kind of thing.

It was sort of an echo of that. Folks would write lengthy letters. Well, Henry Cole, well-known figure in Victorian London [00:04:00] had a lot of friends, so many friends, he was probably getting writer’s cramp trying to write these lengthy, considerate detailed letters to them. Presumably telling them what his year had been like and asking about how their, the friend was doing and their family, and he finally got the idea, “Hmm, maybe I could just reach everybody with a nice semi-personalized image.” 

So he hired an illustrator to come up [00:04:30] with a wonderful illustration of Christmas. I’m sure I can imagine the back and forth. I don’t like that color, change it. No, there’s not enough angels in it, whatever. But the result was a lavishly, illustrated triptych, a three-part image for the holidays in which good old Henry basically had asked his illustrator to have the the word T-O, and then he [00:05:00] could just personalize it, write in whoever it was that he was sending it to. 

Teri Finneman: Amusingly, the card also set off some controversy. So why were some people not impressed with the card? 

John Hanc: Well, I think one reason, well, a couple of reasons. One reason probably is it’s like people saw right through this. It’s like, “Oh, what’s the matter? Henry’s too busy to write me a personalized note? I’m insulted.” But I think another thing was that, and, and it’s interesting [00:05:30] and, and I’m looking at the image right now and, and maybe some of your viewers will be able to, your listeners will be able to also.

One of the images in the card is showing folks raising their glasses, you know, in a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year toast. Um, and that’s just fine except one problem is that there are several children who are also drinking from these glasses. So that was the time when the Temperance Movement [00:06:00] was really becoming a major force both in what is now we call the United Kingdom, and here in the U.S. And apparently, some folks took umbrage at the idea of this underage drinking being celebrated and promoted in this newfangled Christmas card.

Teri Finneman: That’s hilarious. So-

John Hanc: (laughs).

Teri Finneman: Controversy aside, it still took some time for Christmas cards to take off after this. It would be another three decades before the trend came [00:06:30] to the United States. How did it launch here? 

John Hanc: Uh, yes. That is, that is true. I gather that it, you know, it never it – he, for, as far as I can tell, he’s one of the few that really did this, Henry Cole. Um, and I think once – what happened is that a guy named here, a guy named Louis Prang, who was an immigrant from what was then Prussia, [00:07:00] what we’d now call Germany, he was a printer in Boston, and he is the guy credited with the first Christmas card in the United States. And as you say, Teri, it was, it was 30 years later, quite a while, 1875, and this card was the opposite of Cole’s, which was a very multifaceted image. 

There were, I should have mentioned, just going back to him quickly. I think one of the nice things about it, that first card, is it [00:07:30] also, not only did it show people, including children raising their glasses in a holiday toast to you, the recipient, but it also showed acts of charity and it showed people giving to the poor.

So it was almost like he was doing a little, you know, reminder, like a little crowdfunding today, you know, don’t forget to give to your favorite charity. The next generation of Christmas cards by this Louis Prang in America was a [00:08:00] little more artistic and a little more austere. It was simply – well, austere might not be the right word because it’s a pretty image, but it’s simple, it’s simpler. 

It’s just a card with a painting of a flower and it reads Merry Christmas, and the guy I interviewed at the time, an expert on the history of Christmas traditions, and I’ll quote him here. He said, “They were vivid, beautiful reproductions. [00:08:30] There were very few nativity scenes or depictions of holiday celebrations.” 

And I think this is interesting, Teri, you were typically looking at animals, nature scenes that could have taken place in October or February. Now, you know, we’re used to holiday winter images, but back then, it was like I could send you a picture of a tropical beach and that would be fine on a Christmas card. (laughs).

Teri Finneman: It was really Hallmark in 1915 that made the Christmas card industry [00:09:00] as we’re most familiar with today. Tell us about the Hall Brothers and how they transformed the card.

John Hanc: Well, it’s a great point and of course I was reading something about this at the time I was reporting the story and I’m reading about a gentleman named Joyce Hall, who was later joined by his two brothers, and I’m reading along and suddenly, and how they were based in Kansas City, [00:09:30] 1915.

He and his brothers had adopted a new format for the cards, four inches wide, six inches high, folded once and inserted in an envelope. And I’m saying, this sounds very interesting. And I said, “These guys obviously were innovators in greeting cards.” And on the next line, I read that the Hall Brothers company, a decade later changed its name to Hallmark.

So there you go, the name synonymous [00:10:00] with greeting cards of all kinds. Um, so yes, their big innovation was that, and I spoke to a guy, the historian for Hallmark, and again, if you don’t mind, I’m just gonna quote him. I don’t wanna put words in his mouth. 

He pointed out that the Hall brothers discovered that people didn’t have enough room to write everything they wanted to say on a postcard, but on the other hand, they didn’t wanna write a whole letter like the pre-Victorians. [00:10:30] So in this new “book format,” this is what, and by the way, that is still the industry standard. 

So any of your listeners who still are fortunate enough to get the occasional hard copy Christmas card or holiday card I should say, it’s the same format. You just open it up like a, a book or a magazine, and the Hall Brothers were the ones who invented that format, created that format. And they also realized, “Hmm, [00:11:00] maybe it doesn’t make a lot of sense sending images of spring and summer around the holidays.”

So instead, they started coming up with the kinds of designs that we’d become more familiar, that we are more familiar with today in Christmas cards. So you start seeing Santa and reindeers and sleighs and all that kind of stuff.

Teri Finneman: I’ll just kind of put a side note in here that I live near Kansas City and realized just this year that there’s actually a Hallmark museum that [00:11:30] you can go to and they have a great little film about the history of the Hall Brothers and a nice little museum to check out. So I’ll just throw that out there for our listeners to think about. 

John Hanc: Oh, that’s wonderful. Yes. And you know, I write a lot about museums, Teri, and I’m making a note of that as we’re speaking. In fact, I did do a story for the New York Times once about your wonder … Kansas City’s wonderful World War I Museum, which a lot of people don’t know about, and as you know, is not only a great [00:12:00] museum, you probably know, it’s also a big visible landmark in the city. But yes, the Hall brothers, I’ll have to come out to Kansas City and visit that museum. 

Teri Finneman: Yeah, it’s, it’s really cute. I really enjoyed it. So you can’t talk about Christmas cards without talking about the post office. Uh, in 1962, the post office decided to join the bandwagon and issued the first Christmas stamps, but it was way more popular than they expected, which led to some trouble. Talk about what happened [00:12:30] there. 

John Hanc: Well, yes. And then the story behind this is according to the Christmas, the post office, their new Christmas 1962, pretty, pretty generic. And it had a wreath and two candles with it. And, and again, the words, Christmas 1962, they ordered a printing of 350 million of these. 

And just to give your listeners a perspective, back in 1962, what did a stamp cost? 4 cents. Um, but what happened [00:13:00] is it was so popular, they completely underestimated the demand for these new Christmas stamps that they ended up having to do a special printing and this kind of led to a problem. They didn’t have enough of the right size of the paper.

And so what happened is that the first printing of the new Christmas stamps came in sheets of a hundred. The second printing came in sheets of 90 because they [00:13:30] didn’t have the right paper, but yet they had to get it out there to meet the demand. Obviously, these were the holidays. They couldn’t say, “Oh, all right, we’ll print more in two months.”

No, that would’ve been February, and no one cares about Christmas cards in February. So they had to have this rush mass production. And I think it’s, you know, you kind of envision, it’s like Zoom during the pandemic, how they had to ramp up things, and one of the questions I asked is, “Oh, are those second printings, the sheets of 90 [00:14:00] of these stamps as opposed to the typical hundred, are they collectibles?”

He said, “Yes, they are, although they’re not rare.” And, and the last point I’ll make about this is that the Bureau of Engraving and Printing apparently went into overdrive and overtime and all-hands-on deck printing these things so that by the end of 1962, a total of one billion copies of that Christmas stamp were [00:14:30] printed and distributed.

Teri Finneman: The most popular Christmas card came out in 1977. What was that card? 

John Hanc: Yeah, that was the card that, um, that was, you know, it’s interesting. I’m gonna backtrack a minute and, and just say that it was very interesting to look at some of the biggest cards of all time, and they’re often not the ones that you would think of, you know, I would’ve thought, yeah. I like getting funny cards. 

So I would’ve thought [00:15:00] it’s, you know, the one with the, you know, the Santa getting stuck in the chimney or something like that. But no, it was one that, and I’m looking back to make sure I’m explaining this right. It’s an image of three angels, two of whom are bowed in prayer, and the third angel kind of peeks out from the card with big baby blue eyes and her [00:15:30] angel halo is slightly off center in a lovable way.

And (laughs) the sentiment is, God bless you, keep you and love you at Christmas time and always. Uh, which is a very sweet sentiment. And maybe today, it might be a little bit different, but I guess we could, maybe the God word would not be used. But I think it’s a lovely sentiment and I guess I’m not surprised that that’s what people responded to.

Teri Finneman: [00:16:00] So we talked about this a little earlier, you alluded to it. Uh, mail volume has significantly declined in the last decade with email and social media. For me, holiday card season falls at the end of the semester when I’m just swamped. And so I’ve skipped years of sending cards myself and I know I don’t get as many cards from other people as I used to. So what do you think about this historical trend declining? Is this just part of modern times or do you think we lose something with it? 

John Hanc: I think we definitely lose [00:16:30] something with it. And, and it’s interesting, I was thinking recently about this, Teri. Christmas cards – I think there’s an analogy here to the print media that many of us journalists know and love. I’m always surprised that my students, and maybe like yours, when they write for our student publication here at New York Tech, where I’m also a professor as you mentioned, they are, they [00:17:00] want a hard copy.

When we went all digital, they were kind of miffed. They wanted a hard copy. I said, “Wait a minute. You’re the digital natives. Why do you want a hard copy?” And they said, “Well, there’s something special about a printed version of the paper, of the newspaper.” And, “Oh, my parents also like it.” And C, it’s kind of special and, you know, it got me thinking that maybe we’re going to see something similar in Christmas [00:17:30] cards.

Just as all of the major magazines and newspapers, despite all the challenges they faced over the past couple of decades, that most of them have still kept a so-called legacy edition, even if it’s printed, even if it’s less pages, even if it’s smaller type. And they recognize that there is still a group, a cadre of readers out there who still want that, the tactile feeling of, of print.

So I think the same [00:18:00] thing could be said about Christmas cards. I mean, I would ask your listeners to think back to this past Christmas, this past full Christmas season. And think, “Do you remember? Did you get any Christmas cards in the mail? And if so, do you remember who they were from?” And I bet if the answer to the first question is yes, the answer to the second question is yes, because that’s how cards, these cards stand out.

These cards [00:18:30] have become something special. And I know that I have a friend of mine who I have a colleague who always sends a Christmas card, and I’m always delighted when I get it, and I think it’s a lot better than just getting an email saying Merry Christmas (laughs) and a Happy New Year. So I guess I’m speaking wishfully here, but I, my guess would be that maybe the Christmas card may be due for a small comeback.

[00:19:00] Not meaning that we’re going to, people will be sending out dozens and dozens of them, you know, or hundreds like my mom used to back in the ’60s or ’70s, but then maybe we will start to see a few each year, and that may be folks who want to stand out whether for business reasons or just for personal reasons they’d like to send something distinctive. I think they’re gonna reach for the Christmas card. 

Teri Finneman: We normally ask our guests [00:19:30] why journalism history matters, but today’s show is more about communication history. So why do you think communication history matters? 

John Hanc: Geez, I, what a great question. I think like it’s like with the history of everything else. I think it’s important to understand the evolution of societies in every aspect. But I think communications history is particularly key because, right now, we are completely sort of enveloped. No pun intended, [00:20:00] because we were talking about Christmas cards and postal services, but were enveloped in, you know, in media in all of its forms. 

And I do think it’s instructive to look back at some things, like even some things as I don’t want to call it trivial because it’s not, but it’s certainly not as significant as other forms of communication that deliver us important news. But I would say even the history of the Christmas card. It’s helpful [00:20:30] to understand that. 

It’s helpful to see how people’s attitudes towards print, in this case towards print media, as we discussed, towards the holiday itself. And I think also maybe the most important part of the lesson of studying this kind of history is we really get a better sense of the history of the way people seek to interact with one another. 

I mean, sending a Christmas card is [00:21:00] probably a lot of the people who send Christmas cards, you know, you don’t have to be – you don’t have to believe in the religious aspect of Christmas to send it. You don’t have to go to midnight Mass to send Christmas cards. It’s really about you sending, expressing a sentiment to people that you care about, the essence of communication. 

So I think writ large communication in all forms helps us better understand human behavior [00:21:30] and that’s always a good thing. The mysteries of human behavior are always a good thing for us humans to better understand.

Teri Finneman: All right, well, we wish all of our listeners a happy holidays this year. This was a fantastic show. Thank you so much for joining us. 

John Hanc: Thank you, Teri, and happy holidays to you and all of your listeners.

Teri Finneman: Thanks for tuning in and be sure to subscribe to our podcast. You can also follow us on Twitter @JHistoryJournal. Until next time, I’m your host, Teri [00:22:00] Finneman, signing off with the words of Edward R. Murrow. “Goodnight and good luck.”

Featured image: The first Christmas Card, Wikimedia Commons