Today is Christmas Card Day, a little-known holiday that honors Sir Henry Cole, the creator of the first commercialized Christmas card. Sir Henry was a government worker from the UK who was very interested in the new ‘Public Post Office’ and wondered how it could be used more by ordinary people. He had the idea of Christmas Cards in 1843 with his friend John Horsley, who was an artist. They designed the first card and sold them for 1 shilling each. (That is only 5p or 8 cents today(!), but in those days it was worth much more.) The card had three panels. The outer two panels showed people caring for the poor and in the center panel was a family having a large Christmas dinner! Some people didn’t like the card because it showed a child being given a glass of wine!
