the first real Christmas card. The first director of London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, Sir Henry found himself too busy in the Christmas Season of 1843 to compose individual Christmas greetings for his friends.
He commissioned artist John Calcott Horsley for the illustration. The card featured three panels, with the center panel depicting a family enjoying Christmas festivities and the card was inscribed with the message: ”A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to You”.
Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer
The Chicago-based Montgomery Ward department store, had been purchasing and distributing children’s coloring books as Christmas gifts for their customers for several years. In 1939, the owners asked one of their own employees to create a book for them, thus saving money. A copywriter, 34-year old Robert L May wrote the story of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer and 2.4 million copies were handed out that year. When May’s brother-in-law, songwriter Johnny Marks, wrote the lyrics and melody for the song “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer” in 1947, the Rudolph phenomenon was born. The song sold two million copies that year, going on to become one of the best selling songs of all time, second only to Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas”.
Christmas Carols
Carols were first sung in Europe thousands of years ago, but there were not Christmas carols. They were pagan songs, sung at the winter solstice celebrations as the people danced round stone circles. The word carol actually means dance or a song of praise and joy.
Early Christians took over the pagan solstice celebrations for Christmas and gave people Christian songs to sing