Our Treasures: Letterboxes used to be brimming with Christmas cards

This card with a little girl pictured is beautiful, and a reminder of people who have a snowy Christmas.

I have friends in the Isle of Man that send us a Christmas card every year. It’s always gorgeous, always bought from a fundraiser and always beautifully inscribed. We look forward to their card every December, and as soon as it arrives it is put on display.

The letterbox used to be brimming with hand-written festive cheer. It seemed like everyone had a Christmas card list. Not sending one required a very good reason, and being dropped off someone’s list was much like being unfriended on social media. But year after year, the cards have become less. Less in the letterbox. Less on the mantle. Less overlapped on the string on the wall. Less kept in boxes because throwing them away was unthinkable.

It makes me sad to see such a beautiful, selfless gesture disappearing. I have always loved opening an envelope, looking at the artwork specifically chosen for me and reading the hand-written message. To know someone is thinking about you at a time of year that can often be lonely is a Christmas tradition that I’m not ready to let go of.

The earliest record of someone sending Christmas wishes was in a letter that said, “Merry Christmas”, sent in 1534. The first card is believed to have been more of a large manuscript, but it folded into panels like a card. This was sent to King James I of England in 1611.

This one depicts an upside-down horseshoe which will let the good luck flow out and surround the home.

Cards as we know them today, however, were created in 1843 by Sir Henry Cole. He and his friend John Horsley, an artist, designed the first card and sold copies for one shilling each. That card had three panels. The two outer panels showed people caring for the poor, while the inside panel was a picture of a family enjoying a large Christmas dinner. This was controversial at the time, as depicted in this image was a child being given a glass of wine.

Christmas cards were not immediately popular in America. They first appeared in the late 1840s, but were very expensive. Mass production in 1875 saw their popularity begin to rise - then in 1915, the game changed when John C. Hall and his two brothers created Hallmark Cards.

This card depicts a little boy flying around on a giant plum pudding as he wishes the recipient a jolly Christmas and a high old time in the New Year.

Inspired by these historic postal sentiments, I decided to look through the archives here at the Whangārei Museum to see what Christmas cards I could find. I was not disappointed, and three of the cards I found caught my attention, but for different reasons.

One is of a hand holding flowers and berries. Oddly, it also holds an upside-down horseshoe. This struck me as weird, as I always thought this was considered unlucky. However, I have since learned that many people believe an upright horseshoe catches luck, while an upside-down one will let the good luck flow out and surround the home.

The picture of a little girl on another card is beautiful, and instantly reminded me of the envy I felt as a child towards everyone for whom it snowed at Christmas.

But I love the little boy, nonchalantly flying around on a giant plum pudding, which we all know has the opposite effect on most people. He wishes the recipient a jolly Christmas and a high old time in the New Year.

And so do we. From the team at Kiwi North, we wish you a jolly Christmas and wonderful year ahead.

Mel Williams, Visitor Services Kiwi North