According to Britannica Online, though wood engravers
produced prints with religious themes in the European Middle Ages, the
first Christmas card, as the term is now understood, is believed
to have been designed by John Callcott Horsley in England in 1843, created
for his friend Sir Henry Cole. An edition of 1,000 cards was placed on
sale in London. It was lithographed on stiff cardboard, 5 1/8 by 3 1/4
inches, in dark sepia and hand-colored. The center of the card shows a
family party in progress, beneath which were the words "A Merry Christmas
and a Happy New Year to You." To one side is a scene of the hungry being
fed and to the other side the poor being clothed. In the United States,
the owner of a variety store in Albany, N.Y., in the mid-19th century
produced a card carrying Christmas greetings from "Pease's Great Variety
Store in the Temple of Fancy."