The First Commercial Xmas Card Had People Outraged Over Its ‘Scandalous’ Art
Image via Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
The first Christmas greeting card to ever be printed commercially was one of the objects of interest at Christie’s Valuable Books and Manuscripts auction. The piece of history ended up being sold for £13,750 (US$18,300) to a buyer who will have a very merry Christmas, indeed.
However, all wasn’t calm and bright when the card, commissioned by British civil servant Sir Henry Cole to illustrator John Calcott Horsley, first went into circulation in 1843. Its illustration was too “scandalous” for followers of the puritanical Temperance movement in England, who took offense at its depiction of underage drinking.
The colorful drawing portrays a family toasting to the addressee. The members at the table are each illustrated with a glass of wine in hand, including a young child near the front of the picture. It is unclear if the three children at the back are merrymaking with wine, as well, but Christie’s describes them to be “tasting plum pudding.”
Supporters of the Temperance movement, which frowns upon the consumption of alcoholic beverages, were enraged by “this ‘scandalous’ picture [that] had children toasting with glass of wine along with the adults,” described New York-based antique book dealer Justin Schiller to AP News.
So much so, that they ran a campaign to stop the circulation of the greeting card.
To date, the hand-colored lithograph is a subject of fascination; it is only one of 21 remaining copies from a print of 1,000, and its backstory only raises its allure. The card, accompanied by signed proof, was estimated to sell for £5,000 to £8,000 at Christie’s sale in London but ended up fetching £13,750.
[via Hyperallergic and The Guardian, cover image via Wikimedia Commons (public domain)]
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