Christmas card

The Christmas card is a greeting card with Christmas themes. The motives can be religious in nature, such as the Star of Bethlehem, natural sites such as snowy forests or humorous kind of like a Santa Claus on his sleigh and much more.

History

In London, Sir Henry Cole commissioned in December 1843 illustrator John Callcott Horsley to create a Christmas card with the text Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You for him. Horsley was inspired by the shape of an altarpiece and composed the image of a family party in the size of 5.7 x 3.3 inches, framed by branches and vines, which mediated the viewer cheerfulness and charity. Sir Henry Cole, who had his own Lithographenanstalt, printed from this design 1000 cards in a hand-colored edition and sold it to the then exorbitant price of 1 shilling apiece. At an auction in December 2005, one of these cards was auctioned at a price of 9000 pounds.

1840 was introduced in the UK with the first postage stamp, the Penny Post, which the sending of Christmas cards made ​​them very popular later.

In the U.S., the first Christmas cards were printed in 1874 by Louis Prang in Boston. Prang improved color printing, using up to twenty different colors. He led other formats and organized competitions for the artistic design of his Christmas cards. The high quality of its products and the soulful lyrics on the inside made ​​him a successful entrepreneur. In 1880, he produced more than 5 million greeting cards a year ago.

In Germany, although large amounts of Christmas cards were produced for export, but the Germans mainly so-called desire sheets are submitted to the First World War for Christmas. These were letterhead with printed border ornaments and often an image, were used in the handwritten greetings or poems.

Christmas Cards in Business

Christmas cards are also used in business to increase customer loyalty and for networking. LAB & Company surveyed in a study to 531 German executives. 86% of respondents said that they look forward to the Christmas cards. Especially handwritten cards are popular. Only 15% of respondents have sent no single business Christmas card itself.

Internationally

International Christmas wishes:

• Albanian: Gëzuar Krishtlindjet dhe Vitin e Ri
• Afrikaans: Geseende Kerfees en ' n gelukkige nuwe años
• Basque: Gabon Zoriontsuak eta urte berri on
• Danish: God jul og godt Nytår
• German: Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
• English: Merry Christmas and a happy New Year
• Estonian: Häid jõule yes head uut aastat
• Finnish: Hyvää Joulua yes Onnellista Uutta vuotta
• French: Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année
• Italian: Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo
• Croatian Sretan Bozic i nova godina Sretna
• Modern Greek ( Ελληνικά ): Καλά Χριστούγεννα και ευτυχισμένος ο Καινούριος Χρόνος
• Dutch: Prettige kerstdagen en een gelukkig nieuwjaar
• Polish: Wesołych Świąt i Szczęsliwego Nowego Roku
• Portuguese: Boas Festas e feliz ano novo to
• Romanian: Craciun si un An Nou fericit fericit
• Russian: С Новым Годом и Рождеством! ( Happy New Year and Merry Christmas! In Russia, first comes the New Year ( 31.12-01.01 ) and then Christmas ( 6:01 to 07:01 ) )
• Swedish: God Jul och Nytt God År
• Spanish: Feliz Navidad y Año Nuevo Próspero
• Czech: Veselé Vánoce a Nový rok Šťastný
• Turkish: Noeliniz ve yeni yiliniz kutlu olsun.
• Hungarian: Kellemes karácsonyi ünnepeket és boldog új evet
• Vietnamese: Chuc Mung Giang Sinh