Design a Christmas card

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Design a Christmas card

Discover the history of Christmas cards and create your own history-inspired design

Lots of people send cards at Christmas time, but how and when were they first invented? Read this page to find out, then take inspiration from cards of the past to create your own to send to family and friends this Christmas!

Image: Christmas card of c.1910 by Ethel Parkinson, showing a family admiring the Christmas tree in a toy shop window.

A very Victorian Christmas story

In the first half of the 19th century, Christmas was becoming important as a time of family celebration, beyond its religious significance as the festival marking the birth of Jesus. Wealthy Georgian aristocrats had already brought the German tradition of Christmas trees to England and, in the 1840s, Queen Victoria’s consort Prince Albert popularised this new fashion.

The first proper Christmas card was printed for and written by Henry Cole at Christmas in 1843. It was part of an older tradition of sending handwritten greetings, particularly around the New Year. Like Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (also published in 1843), the Christmas card was part of the new Victorian culture of Christmas.

The first Christmas Card

Henry Cole was a campaigner and civil servant, and the first director of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He has a blue plaque at his former Kensington home. In 1843, Henry Cole asked a painter, John Callcott Horsley, to design a printed card for him. Horsley drew a scene of three generations of the Cole family raising their glasses of wine towards the viewer of the card. The picture shows his wife Marian even helping their toddler take a sip! A printed greeting reads ‘A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you’, with a printed ‘To…’ at the top and ‘From…’ at the bottom. This Christmas postcard was printed in black and white, then professionally hand-coloured: the modern Christmas card was born.

Image: Christmas card of c.1870, made from paper ‘lace’ with printed panels showing flowers and a north European winter scene, probably by Eugene Rimmel of London and originally perfumed (collection of Judith Holder)

Christmas card of c.1870, made from paper ‘lace’ with printed panels showing flowers and a north European winter scene, probably by Eugene Rimmel of London and originally perfumed.

Cards for the masses

Christmas cards gradually became more popular. Newer printing technologies in the 1860s and 1870s reduced the price of cards and increased sales. Early Victorian cards were influenced by the older tradition of printed Valentine’s cards: both used paper ‘lace’ – embossed and pierced paper. Lace cards featured printed scenes of robins, Christmas trees, angels or children. Cards were influenced by changing fashions in art and design including the Pre-Raphaelite movement and Art Nouveau.

In the 20th century, the fashion for Christmas cards spread, with the need to write to troops during the First and Second World Wars. Later, fundraising charity cards also became popular. British households still buy an average of about 30 Christmas cards, continuing this Victorian tradition.

Image: Young girl creating a Christmas card

Design your own Christmas card

Now it’s your turn to take inspiration from Christmas cards of the past to create your own design. You could draw a classic festive scene, or take elements from traditional cards, and make them uniquely yours!

To make your card, paint a picture, cut out coloured or patterned paper and glue them on to make a collage or use pencils and pens to create your design. When you're finished, send them to your family and friends to wish them a Merry Christmas, just like the Victorians did.