The world's first Christmas card, 1843
November 9th is Christmas Card Day. The first commercial Christmas card was made by Sir Henry Cole, one of those famous people no one knows. Cole was a 19th century British civil servant and inventor, responsible for innovations in commerce and education.
Caricatured as "King Cole" in Vanity Fair, 1871
Not that long ago, sending Christmas cards through the mail was a must. Maybe the tradition is coming back, because this week I saw boxes of beautiful, expensive cards for sale at Barnes and Noble and our local Northwest Art and Frame store. I always buy mine on sale after Christmas and forget what they look like, so pulling them again in December is a fun little surprise.
Been shopping lately? Christmas is here. At Marshall's, the store aisles were so crammed with stuff (and customers) I could hardly push one of their teeny carts around. After a few minutes, I couldn't imagine what possessed me to go in there. But right next door at Target (where they have gargantuan carts) it felt like a ghost town.
Some of the big stores like Macy's are in trouble, and no wonder. No one has time for recreational shopping and you can buy almost anything online, with free shipping to boot. Just stay home and wait for the UPS guy to fling your stuff on the front porch. He sure knows the way to this house.
Home, sweet on a dark winter afternoon...
A card is in the mail
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