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- [00:00]
Tracy V. Wilson
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human work can be a little weird. And I know when I first started working, networking for work was even weirder. Sometimes it can feel hard to thrive and move forward in your career, and that is where LinkedIn comes in. LinkedIn helps you get ideas and insights from experts in your field, connect with people professionally, grow your network, and access tools designed to help you find the right fit for your next role. Whether you're just getting started, figuring out your next move or looking to accelerate your career, LinkedIn is built to support you at every stage because LinkedIn is the network that works for you. Visit LinkedIn.com class to learn more.
- [00:38]
Hanley Fry
Wouldn't it be great to never buy gas again? EVs are as easy to charge as your phone and they are a perfect addition to your everyday life. Most people are only driving about 40 miles a day, and most EVs can handle 200 to 400 miles of range on a charge. And there are hundreds of EV models available today, so there's something perfect for every lifestyle budget. I drive an ev. I've had it for a couple of years. It's my favorite car I've ever owned. It is so fun to drive. The pickup is incredible. It's super agile and it is easy to maintain. The way forward is electric. Learn more@electricforall.org Everyone deserves to be connected
- [01:15]
Liberty Mutual / Electric For All Advertiser
T Mobile and US Cellular are joining forces Our networks are coming together, bringing more T Mobile coverage all over the country. Switch to T Mobile and save up to 20% versus Verizon by getting built in benefits they leave out. Check the math@t mobile.com Switch and now T Mobile is available in the US CEL cellular store in Pasco. Bigger network the combination of T Mobile's and US Cellular's network footprints will enhance the T Mobile network's coverage savings versus comparable Verizon plans plus the costs of options, benefits, plan features and taxes and fees vary. Savings with three plus lines include third free line free via monthly bill credits credit stop if you cancel any lines Qualifying credit required. Liberty Mutual customizes your car and home insurance. And now we're customizing this ad for your morning commute to wake you up, which could help your driving. Science says that stimulating the brain increases alertness. So here's a pop quiz. How many months have 28 days? What gets wetter as it dries? What has keys but can't open? Locks? If you don't want to hear the answers, turn off this Liberty Mutual AD. Now 12 months a towel piano Enjoy being fully Alert.
- [02:10]
Tracy V. Wilson
Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty.
- [02:14]
Hanley Fry
Welcome to Stuff youf Missed in History Class, a production of iHeartradio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Hanley Fry.
- [02:28]
Tracy V. Wilson
And I'm Tracy V. Wilson.
- [02:30]
Hanley Fry
Today's episode is a bit of personal therapy for me.
- [02:33]
Tracy V. Wilson
Yeah.
- [02:34]
Hanley Fry
In the dingiest way. It's not deep. I am working through my personal feelings about greeting cards lately. Here is why.
- [02:43]
Tracy V. Wilson
Okay.
- [02:43]
Hanley Fry
I am trying desperately as a natural born clutterbug who also married another clutterbug, to just get rid of the stuff in our house that is hogging up space.
- [02:55]
Tracy V. Wilson
Sure.
- [02:56]
Hanley Fry
Which includes the backlog of greeting cards. And I'm trying to set some rules and consider which ones have value and why. And of course, that led me to go, where did these come from? Why are we doing this? And then it became a history project.
- [03:14]
Tracy V. Wilson
There we go.
- [03:16]
Hanley Fry
Cause that way I can parse it and think about their origin point, and that will help me make the rules that will enable me to more clearly decide on the fly. Do I keep this one for sentimental posterity reasons or can I toss this one? I think it has actually worked, by the way. But we're gonna talk about greeting cards today. As I always say, with any of these kind of wide survey type things, not comprehensive, obviously, we're gonna talk about some global history, but as we go on, a lot of it becomes about England and the U.S. yeah. Because frankly, these are the places most obsessed with greeting cards as we know them today. But it'll be a fun little trip around the world before that.
- [04:01]
Tracy V. Wilson
Yeah. In the romance of Greeting cards, written in 1956 by Ernest Dudley Chase, there's a passage that reads, quote, who can tell who originated the idea of sending a word of greeting? And if it were possible to go back to that faraway age when the caveman roamed the earth and when there was no written word and probably little spoken word, we would doubtless find that greetings of friendship or symbols of a desire to be friendly were sent or carried from one to another in the form of a sign. A leaf from a tree, a flower, a bright feather from some beautiful jungle bird, a stone, a crystal, or any one of a thousand and one objects that might have been recognized as a token of courtesy, good cheer, and friendliness. And it's true, we don't know the origin of one human giving another person a token of greeting. But there are some obvious precursors to the modern day greeting card.
- [05:06]
Hanley Fry
Two places are usually invoked in discussions of early greeting cards. We're using the term greeting cards pretty loosely at this point, but those places are Egypt and China. In ancient Egypt, early greeting cards were not cards at all, but they were sometimes bugs. Well, at least representations of them. Specifically scarab beetles, which were considered a sacred symbolic representation of the God Khepri. So just as scarabs roll dung to create balls that are suitable for laying eggs, in Capri was believed to roll the disk of the sun across the sky. If you have been to any museum with even a small Egyptian collection, you almost certainly have seen scarabs represented in beads, amulets and other artifacts.
- [05:52]
Tracy V. Wilson
Scarabs came in various forms associated with different meanings, and they often had things written on their underside. This could include things like names, mottos, or prayers, but some had inscriptions that appear to be well wishes or greetings, suggesting that they were given as gifts to convey those wishes and greetings. These were usually inscribed with messages of good luck. They were associated with New Year's greetings as well. Papyrus was also used to send messages of goodwill or cheer in Egypt for centuries.
- [06:27]
Hanley Fry
Yeah, one of the things that I read about this suggested that even if there was nothing inscribed on has been interpreted by some historians that if you gave someone a scarab at the start of a new year, it was still meant to convey these ideas of, of good greetings and good cheer. China's history with the idea of sending warm wishes to others is linked to wooden greeting tablets which date as far back as the Han dynasty in the third century BCE and which remained in use well into the fourth century. These visiting cards could be very basic, with a name, address, and perhaps a job title. Another type of card, which is more like the idea of a greeting card as we would use that term today, could include more specific and personal greetings. The earliest archaeological finds of these types of wooden greetings was pretty recent. It was in the 1930s and it actually took several decades for enough of them to be unearthed that researchers started to focus on them. These were used as communication among officials and dignitaries, as a means to show respect, as well as to maintain connection and good relations. One, for example that was translated by Maxim Korokov, was mentioned in his 2012 paper greeting tablets in early Some traits of the Communicative Etiquette of officialdom in light of newly excavated inscriptions, reads simply quote youth. Huang Chao bows repeatedly asks for your well being. And then it includes the name and the country of the sender. That paper will of course be in our show notes. It is a deep and detailed dive into these missives. So if you are interested, I have you set up with Reading material.
- [08:16]
Tracy V. Wilson
An article from South China Morning Post written earlier this year, that's 2026 by Wike Kung, notes that early New Year greeting card exchanges in China were very formal. They sound a little stressful for these reasons. The traditional card was a calling card for the New Year, and there were a lot of social rules around them. And the contents of the greeting had to be way more than just the simple happy holidays that, you know, that's enough on a lot of modern cards. The development of the paper industry also meant these greetings had enabled the transition from those inscribed pieces of thin wood as a means to send greetings to more manageable paper cards.
- [09:03]
Hanley Fry
The earliest paper cards in China are believed to have been Spring Festival cards that became popular in the Tang dynasty in the 7th to 10th centuries. Over time, other events and holidays included greeting cards like the New Year. And it was these New Year's cards that became so important that a poorly written greeting could really damage a person's social standing. That's very stressful to me. But according to Wecat Kun's article, over the course of several hundred years, these earnest missives took on a new role as a way for corrupted bureaucracy to send bribes and expensive gifts to one another to grease the wheels of government.
- [09:43]
Tracy V. Wilson
Eventually, greeting cards in China moved from the realm of the wealthy, elite and political to something that everyday people shared with one another. This includes the traditional red packets given at New Year's. Those are the red envelopes with a greeting on the outside printed in gold with money tucked into them. These are given by married people to the next generation, and they too have their own customs and etiquette, like only using fresh, crisp new bills and in even numbered amounts, with eight being the luckiest and four being an absolute no, no, because that number represents death in Chinese culture.
- [10:20]
Hanley Fry
In ancient Rome, it was common practice to give laurel branches that were coated in gold as a wish of good fortune for the New Year. And this eventually evolved into imagery of those gold branches being used on objects with New Year's greetings, which then eventually transitioned to versions written on leaves of paper. This led to the practice of written greetings being adopted throughout Europe. These remained largely a way to celebrate the New Year and share hopes for a good year ahead with friends and business associates. Wood engravers also started to produce small prints that served as a means of conveying these greetings. But most of the cards that were given to people in Europe during this early phase of greeting cards were handmade.
- [11:05]
Tracy V. Wilson
Soon the practice expanded beyond the New Year. People started writing Valentine's cards the oldest Valentine card on record is a small piece of paper written in 1415 by Charles I, Duke d', Orleans, to his wife, Bonne d'. Armagnac. At the time he was captive in the Tower of London. He had been captured following the Battle of Agincourt, in which France was soundly defeated by England. His wife was younger than him, which he referenced in the card. They had gotten married in 1410, when she was just 11 years old and he was 16. At the time of his capture. He was 21. And he wrote her this poem on a card to be carried by a messenger. It went I am already lovesick, my very gentle valentine, since for me you were born too late, and I for you was born too soon. God forgives him who has estranged me from you for the whole year. I am already lovesick, my very gentle Valentine. Well, might I have suspected that such a destiny thus would have happened this day. How much that love would have commanded. I am already lovesick, my very gentle valentine.
- [12:18]
Hanley Fry
We're gonna talk about that translation, which is partly mine, on Friday. Sadly, the two of them would never see each other again, as Charles was held captive in England for 25 years and bun died before his release. He left behind a significant body of poetry, though he's considered one of the great court poets, and he began a trend that became a tradition of cards that bordered on being love letters being sent as greetings.
- [12:46]
Tracy V. Wilson
Coming up, we'll talk about a book designed to help people write something valuable in their greeting cards. But first, we will take a quick sponsor break.
- [12:59]
Hanley Fry
Wouldn't it be great to never buy gas again? EVs are as easy to charge as your phone, and they are a perfect addition to your everyday life. Most people are only driving about 40 miles a day, and most EVs can handle 200 to 400 miles of range on a charge. And there are hundreds of EV models available today, so there's something perfect for every lifestyle and budget. I drive an ev. I've had it for a couple of years. It's my favorite car I've ever owned. It is so fun to drive. The pickup is incredible. It's super agile and it is easy to maintain. The way forward is electric.
- [13:31]
Liberty Mutual / Electric For All Advertiser
Learn more@electricforall.org Liberty Mutual customizes your car and home insurance. And now we're customizing this ad for your morning commute to wake you up, which could help your driving. Science says that stimulating the brain increases alertness, so here's a pop. How many months have 28 days. What gets wetter as it dries. What has keys but can't open? Locks. If you don't want to hear the answers, turn off this Liberty Mutual AD. Now. 12 months a towel piano. Enjoy being fully alert.
- [14:01]
Tracy V. Wilson
Liberty, Liberty. Liberty. Liberty.
- [14:04]
Robert Smigel
Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy not quite on Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Jim Gaffigan to Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier this week. My guests, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an acapella band with their between songs banter. Who's the worst singer in the group? The worst? Yeah, Me. Is there anything to the idea that because you're from Harvard, you only got in because your parents made a huge donation to the group?
- [14:38]
Hanley Fry
The Yardbirds. Right? That's the name.
- [14:41]
Robert Smigel
The Harvard Yard. They're open.
- [14:42]
Hanley Fry
Do you have a name suggestion? We're open.
- [14:44]
Robert Smigel
Since you guys are middle aged. One erection. Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
- [14:57]
Tracy V. Wilson
Humor me.
- [15:00]
Robert Smigel
I need some jokes to make me seem funny.
- [15:03]
Liberty Mutual / Electric For All Advertiser
Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the Enhanced Games. Some call it grotesque, others say it's unlike unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the Games and with the athletes for a full year.
- [15:20]
Hanley Fry
Within probably 10 days, I'd put on £10. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.
- [15:27]
Liberty Mutual / Electric For All Advertiser
Listen to Superhuman on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [15:39]
Hanley Fry
The problem of how to write a good greeting wasn't only in Chinese greeting card history. A lot of people have struggled with what to write in cards because not everyone was as good with words as the Duke d'. Orleans. In 1669, a book called A Valentine Writer was published and it featured a collection of verses that someone who might be struggling with what to write on a card could use. It also featured a printed valentine on its frontispiece and this is widely believed to be the first printed Valentine.
- [16:13]
Tracy V. Wilson
The first standalone pre printed Valentine's card is really not known with certainty, but there is one candidate that was submitted to the BBC by the Castle Museum, York, and this card features a very ornate floral border that's been punched to look like lace and a central image of a woman in a blue dress. The interior of this printed message reads, quote, since on this ever happy day, all nature's father, full of love and play, yet harmless, still if my design tis but to be your Valentine that was printed in January 1797 in London. The card that is in the Castle Museum's collection also includes a handwritten note on the card. And that sounds maybe less romantic, a little more annoyed, perturbed. Maybe we can take a look though. It reads, quote, Mr. Brown, as I have repeatedly requested you to come, I think you must have some reason for not complying with my request. But as I have something particular to say to you, I could wish you make it all agreeable to come on Sunday next without fail, and in doing, you will oblige your well wisher, Kathryn Moss Day.
- [17:37]
Hanley Fry
Yeah, we don't know what that was about.
- [17:38]
Tracy V. Wilson
I'm very curious. What was going on between Kathryn Moss Day and Mr. Brown?
- [17:44]
Hanley Fry
Yeah, Mr. Brown, did she love you and it was unrequited or did you owe her money? I don't know. I can write a whole thing. Even with books like A Valentine Writer and the rise of cards with pre printed sentiments, Valentine cards were still something that was considered a bit of a luxury. It actually wasn't until the 1800s when Britain's uniform penny post made the cost of sending such cards something that was in the grasp of more of the population.
- [18:13]
Tracy V. Wilson
Christmas cards actually came a bit later in the game. This was not because people were not sending Christmas greetings, but the tradition in England and other parts of Europe was to send Christmas letters to friends and loved ones, to share wishes for the good holidays and a prosperous new year and to catch people up on the happenings in your life. Just like modern Christmas or end of year letters tend to be for people who are more motivated than me to send such things. But in 1843 that changed, thanks to Henry Cole.
- [18:50]
Hanley Fry
As the Christmas season of 1843 approached, Cole, who was a Public Records Office administrator, was experiencing a bit of dread at the thought of writing Christmas letters because he was very fortunate and he had a wide circle of friends and that meant he needed to write a lot of letters. And he was also just tight on time. He was already receiving letters from other people, but he couldn't imagine ever being able to respond to them all. It would have been considered very impolite not to do so. So he came up with an idea. Rather than do the very impolite thing of leaving a letter unanswered, he thought he could maybe commission an artist to create something that could be printed in bulk so he could send the same thing to everyone and streamline his holiday correspondence responsibilities. And the artist that he asked was J.C. horsley. Horsley was quite famous as a painter, Even though in 1843 he was still just 26. He had at that point exhibited a number of paintings at the Royal Academy. He had won a number of accolades. Even so, his reputation was not as impressive as it would one day become.
- [19:58]
Tracy V. Wilson
Cole gave Horsley a brief on what he had in mind for an image. He wanted a family sitting down to a holiday feast, but he also wanted to depict them doing good works and helping the less fortunate. So Horsley came up with a three part image. The central and largest section features the feast, and then it is separated from each side by a framework of wood and foliage. In the left section we see a man handing out food to a woman and child. And then the right section depicts a woman draping a blanket or a cloak around another woman. A drape of fabric beneath that main image of the feast reads, a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to you. And at the top was a line that just said two and a blank for the name of the recipient.
- [20:47]
Hanley Fry
Cole loved the result and he had 1,000 copies printed on heavy cardstock. They had to be printed in. You could say it's black and white. It was actually kind of a sepia tone and then hand painted. And the result is that the central image is in full color while the side images are in softer, more diluted tones. This is also why if you look at images of this card online, because a number have survived, they may all look a little different. It's because of the hand painting. These cards were quite small. They were 5 and 18 by 3 and 1 quarter inches for reference. This is a little smaller than the most common postcard size today, which is 4 by 6 inches. And Cole sent these out. This apparently actually upset some people, but not because it broke the social more of penning a personalized letter. The problem was that the children in the image are shown drinking from wine glasses. And a number of of temperance minded people on Cole's list thought that was very inappropriate. This was a time in England when the temperance movement had a big surge. But nevertheless, there were people in his circle that thought this was a brilliant idea and they copied it and started sending Christmas cards as well. Although it did not become a common practice until later in the 1800s.
- [22:07]
Tracy V. Wilson
Henry Cole won a design prize in a contest sponsored by Prince Albert just two years after his Christmas card debuted. And he was instrumental in conceptualizing and mounting of the 1851 Great Exhibition as well as the Victoria and Albert Museum. He was knighted in 1875.
- [22:26]
Hanley Fry
Yeah, he was pretty interesting. Greeting cards became popular in the US Very shortly after they did in England. And one of the first entrepreneurs to really take advantage of the interest that people had in this new way to let people know you were thinking of them was a woman from Worcester, Massachusetts, named Esther Howland. After Esther graduated from Mount Holyoke in 1847, she founded her own business after receiving a Valentine card from England. I read one account that said this card came from one of her father's associates. She had the idea that she could design and sell her own valentine cards and then have her brother, who worked for the family business, take orders for them. Whenever he went on sales calls. His first time out, it said that Esther had a goal that he would get $200 worth of orders for them. And then when he came home, he had actually had $5,000 worth of orders, which is quite significant. These are really lovely little art pieces. They often combined fabric and lace with paper to create ornate designs that contained little poems as the greeting for the first batch of samples they had used for those sales calls. Esther had made them by herself after convincing her father to get her all the needed supp. But as those huge orders rolled in, she knew she needed a staff to keep up. And she's sometimes described as having actually created the first assembly line because she hired several other women friends of hers, and each of them had a specific component of the card that they were responsible for adding.
- [23:58]
Tracy V. Wilson
Estetor wasn't the first person in the US to produce Valentine cards, but she was the first to create a line that felt special and could compete with the ones that were imported from Europe. By 1850, her line had expanded and her company was advertising a whole product line, which ranged in price from 5 cents to a dollar. Her most expensive cards had tiny springs tucked in between layers of lace and printed imagery. So when you pulled them out of the envelope, they'd sort of fluff up and create a luxe three dimensional shadow box effect. Others in the premium category had layers and layers of silk and lace that could be unfolded and reveal a beautiful pict inside. Soon she expanded to make cards for other occasions like Christmas, New Year's and birthdays.
- [24:48]
Hanley Fry
Howland really drove the development of the greeting card industry in the US in its earliest phase, her company, which became the New England Valentine Company in the 1870s, produced cards and also books. The New England Valentine Company's Valentine Verse book, for example, was a book of decoratively printed poems so that consumers could replace the verse in a purchased valentine if they felt that it did not suit their needs. They could just find a better one in Howland's book and then cut it out and paste it over the one that the card came printed with. Esther did eventually sell her Company in 1880. That was so that she could take care of her father full time. He became quite ill as he got older, and then by the time she died in 1904, the greeting card was a standard part of holiday culture in the US we'll talk about the early
- [25:38]
Tracy V. Wilson
days of Christmas cards in the US after we hear from some of the sponsors that keep the show going.
- [25:47]
Hanley Fry
Wouldn't it be great to never buy gas again? EVs are as easy to charge as your phone and they are a perfect addition to your everyday life. Most people are only driving about 40 miles a day, and most EVs can handle 200 to 400 miles of range on a charge. And there are hundreds of EV models available today, so there's something perfect for every lifestyle and budget. I drive an ev. I've had it for a couple of years. It's my favorite car I've ever owned. It is so fun to drive. The pickup is incredible. It's super agile and it is easy to maintain. The way forward is electric.
- [26:20]
Liberty Mutual / Electric For All Advertiser
Learn more@electricforall.org Liberty Mutual customizes your car and home insurance. And now we're customizing this ad for your morning commute to wake you up, which could help your driving. Science says that stimulating the brain increases alertness. So here's a pop quiz. How many months have 28 days? What gets wetter as it dries? What has keys but can't open? Locks? If you don't want to hear the answers, turn off this Liberty mutual ad now. 12 months a towel piano. Enjoy being fully alert.
- [26:49]
Tracy V. Wilson
Liberty Liberty. Liberty. Liberty.
- [26:52]
Robert Smigel
Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy not quite on Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests. Friends from Jim Gaffigan to Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier this week. My guest SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an acapella band with their between songs banter. Who's the worst singer in the group? The worst? Yeah.
- [27:16]
Tracy V. Wilson
Me.
- [27:17]
Robert Smigel
Is there anything to the idea that because you're from Harvard you only got in because your parents made a huge donation to the group? The Yardbirds.
- [27:28]
Hanley Fry
Right? That's the name.
- [27:29]
Robert Smigel
The Harvard Yardbird. They're open if you have a name suggestion.
- [27:31]
Hanley Fry
We're open.
- [27:32]
Robert Smigel
Since you guys are middle aged one erection. Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
- [27:46]
Tracy V. Wilson
Humor Me.
- [27:48]
Robert Smigel
I need some jokes to make me seem funny.
- [27:52]
Liberty Mutual / Electric For All Advertiser
Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the Enhanced Games. Some call it grotesque, others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast Superhuman documented it all embedded in the Games and with the athletes for a full year.
- [28:09]
Hanley Fry
Within probably 10 days, I'd put on £10. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.
- [28:15]
Liberty Mutual / Electric For All Advertiser
Listen to Superhuman on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [28:28]
Hanley Fry
While Esther Her Valentine Card business Another entrepreneur, Louis Prong, was focused on Christmas cards. Prong was born in Breslau, Prussia, and he moved to the US in the 1850s. After being involved in some revolutionary activity in Prussia, he settled in Boston and started working as a lithographer. He had learned the lithography trade from his father because the family couldn't afford to send him to school. In the early 1850s, Prong created illustrations for Gleason magazine before starting the lithography company Prong and Mayer with his partner Julius Mayer in 1856. He took over the business entirely four years later and it became L. Prong and Company.
- [29:11]
Tracy V. Wilson
Prong's company printed things like advertisement art and business cards, and he continued to learn the latest techniques to ensure his company was producing top quality work. In 1864, Prong traveled to Germany to learn a new technique, and that was chromolithography. Up until that point, all lithographs worked the same way that Cole and Horsley had done with their cards. They were printed in two color black and white or in sepia, and then they were hand painted. But chromolithography removed the need for the hand painting step, and so you could use multiple lithographic plates to add the color. Prong returned to Boston completely inspired by the possibilities of this new technique, and
- [29:55]
Hanley Fry
right from the beginning he really wanted to push chromolithography to create incredibly complex images. He wasn't doing just a few passes with color plates, he was creating these vivid, deep color images using as many as 20 plates per design. And in doing so he really set a standard in lithography that was hard for other companies to match. In 1875 he used that process to produce a Christmas card. Prong's card did not feature any of the symbols of the season that you might expect on a Christmas card. It was just an image of a flower Not a poinsettia, just a regular flower with the words Merry Christmas underneath it. I couldn't find an image of that original 1875 card, but I did see an image of the 1876 card that appears to feature pink roses and two different cards from 1877. One of those looks like it features slightly stylized carnations, and the other looks like a spray of wildflowers, including a pansy. Prong's cards were so pretty that they gained popularity really quickly, and over time, the company started using more standard holiday imagery. Although they still outpaced other printers on quality, Prong was reportedly selling an astonishing 5 million cards each year by the 1880s.
- [31:17]
Tracy V. Wilson
The Prong Company also initiated a very popular program where it started having contests each year for aspiring artists to design the next card. This is a lucrative contest. The first placed winner got a thousand dollars. That was a lot of money in 1880 when this contest started. Second, third and fourth place also got prize money in smaller increments. It also was unique in that it was open to women and to men competing equally, offering women an unusual opportunity to get their foot in the door of the commercial design market. The submissions were displayed at the American Art Gallery, and the winner's cards would be printed along with their name on the back of the card. Prong would also sometimes purchase the rights to cards that had not been in the top four, and he would sometimes sign contracts with artists from the competition as designers for the company. This made Prong cards collector's items. People wanted to get the winning card every year. They wanted that art. It also served another purpose. Prong always had an eye on art education, and he used this contest to share information about the lithographic process with the public. His company still exists today and makes art supplies for the education market, which is why that name sounded so familiar to me.
- [32:37]
Hanley Fry
This contest ran from 1880 to 1884, and by the time it was done, a lot of other printers were catching up to Prague's level, and the US Greeting card market was well established.
- [32:49]
Tracy V. Wilson
While Prong is often lauded as printing the first American Christmas card, there's another rarely mentioned figure in card printing who put a Christmas card out in the late 1840s. That was shop owner and printer Richard H. Pease of Albany, New York. According to the Albany Institute of History and Art, Pease had a card designed by a woman named Eliza Forbes and printed it in black and white for most likely the 1849 holiday season. The image is interesting because it almost feels like Pease or Forbes had Seen a copy of the Coal Horsley card? Maybe use that as inspiration. It features a family celebrating Christmas in the center. That image spills over to the right and left along the bottom of the image. To the upper left is an image of what looks like a holiday fancy dress ball. And to the upper right is an image of the building where Pease's shop was. This card was obviously intended to also be a little bit of advertising for the shop. There's a banner of text that arches over the family, which reads, peas's Great Variety Store in the Temple of Fancy. The Temple of Fancy was the actual name of the store. Under the family. The card reads, a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. And then there are the to and from lines that have blanks for the sender to fill in. It's not clear how many copies of this card were printed, but as the messaging was specific to Albany, it doesn't really seem like they traveled very far beyond that. And that could account for this card being kind of a relative unknown.
- [34:26]
Hanley Fry
I feel like I want shirts that say, temple of Fancy. Such a great name. There was a concern around this time, fueled by critics of greeting cards, that sending sentiments in card form was really just a fad and that people were gonna get tired of them in the 20th century. But of course, the opposite happened. Printing processes got better, so even inexpensive cards looked pretty good. Additionally, life got busier for everybody. Just like Henry Cole, they turned to greeting cards to ensure they stayed in touch. Additionally, cards more and more frequently offered ways to enjoy works of art. We talked about that a little bit in our episode on Tyrus Wong, which came out on May 23, 2024. You want to talk about beautiful Christmas cards.
- [35:12]
Tracy V. Wilson
So pretty.
- [35:13]
Hanley Fry
That's where to look. Another earlier artist whose work became coveted on greeting cards was a woman named Kate Greenaway. She may very well be a topic one day. Greenaway was an illustrator, and she was hired by Marcus Ward and Company, a publishing company in Belfast, Ireland, that was moving into the card market because they didn't want to miss out on this new revenue. Kate's card illustrations, which frequently feature children celebrating, are still reprinted commonly today. It's easy to see why. They're very cute.
- [35:46]
Tracy V. Wilson
In 1915, a family business was started by Joyce hall in Kansas City. They printed their first Christmas card. As the business quickly grew, Joyce's brothers also became part of the Hall Company, and they began to focus less on the original plan of postcards and more on holiday copy cards. Later, the company changed its name to Hallmark Hallmark Innovated in introducing the folded card. Previous greeting cards had just been one flat card, a lot like a postcard. But the hall brothers wanted to add more space for a sender to write in the card. They also started hiring well known artists to design cards, including Salvador Dali. The company still has the original paintings for card design by Dali in its collection. Norman Rockwell was also hired to design cards for the company, and his continue to be printed with some regularity.
- [36:43]
Hanley Fry
I feel like Salvador Dali has been on the show a lot lately, which is just fine by me. The US greeting card industry became a significant employer with an estimated 40 factories operating by the late 1920s. And to keep this new industry lucrative, businesses focused their marketing on the idea of the sending cards was an old tradition, even though it was still pretty new. There were also charity card drives to drum up interest and just get people in the practice of buying cards. In those cases, consumers were encouraged to purchase cards knowing that the proceeds, or a portion of the proceeds would benefit a good cause. This practice really solidified with the introduction of UNICEF's first holiday card in 1949. And charity cards have continued consistently ever since.
- [37:33]
Tracy V. Wilson
Today, the greeting card industry is in a unique position. On the one hand, digital cards have cut into the market significantly. On the other, the United States Chamber of Commerce says there's some interesting growth in the industry. For one thing, it's still huge. It's estimated to be a $7 billion market annually that is billionaire with a B. For another, there's some interesting innovation going on within it. While Hallmark and American Greetings are credited with a whopping 80% market share, industry leaders note that the remaining slice of the market is filled with smaller producers who are able to get into the business because of the relatively low startup costs. And there a lot of those folks are doing really creative things.
- [38:20]
Hanley Fry
According to the Greeting Card association, which is like a professional org for all these companies, there are two things that have fueled a new wave of greeting card interest in recent years. And the first is the COVID 19 pandemic because as people were separated from loved ones and close friends, the greeting card industry is one of the few that actually had some growth because people were seeking ways to stay connected that felt more meaningful than simply sending a text. Another is that Millennials and Gen Z consumers have embraced greeting cards as previous generations have lost interest. Millennials are now listed as the largest consumer group of greeting cards. One theory about this growth is that it feels sort of retro to send cards, which has appeal to younger buyers.
- [39:08]
Tracy V. Wilson
Another is that there's some fresh diversity in the messaging and that lets people share sentiments or laugh with loved ones through a card that feels in line with with their usual dynamic. New holidays are also being represented. Some are old holidays that didn't used to be associated with greeting cards like Halloween. Others reflect an expanded awareness of cultural diversity like Diwali. And then of course, there are newly created holidays like Galentine's Day that have become popular and there are cards to celebrate them. There's also a new availability of cards that address the more social and life moments, some of which haven't historically gotten a lot of notice on the card aisle, like for sobriety or for a serious loss. For literally any life event from puberty to gallbladder surgery, there is a card I have one that is like Mad Libs, almost a lot of wild things you can choose from about what you're sending your condolences for, and they're all very silly.
- [40:12]
Hanley Fry
Yeah, yeah. We'll talk about interesting greeting cards Friday. In the meantime, we're gonna talk about art Again, I'm sorry.
- [40:22]
Tracy V. Wilson
Oh good.
- [40:22]
Hanley Fry
But this is like some beautiful art by one of our listeners.
- [40:26]
Tracy V. Wilson
Oh yay.
- [40:27]
Hanley Fry
Who claims that they're not that great but is a fibber. This is from our listener Kieran, who writes hello ladies. A bit of a rambling note, but I recently decided that I wanted to go back and improve upon my art education and finally tackle learning some figure drawing. Unfortunately, my BFA program was not stellar, so I missed out on a lot of foundational skills. But there's no time like the present to learn as I would love to be able to do some fun and inclusive character design and storytelling someday. I'm just starting as of February and am knee deep in anatomy studies and have found that ballet dancers make such excellent references to work from that of course got me down a whole rabbit hole of re listening to the two part episodes on the history of ballet as well as the one on Jean Baptiste Lulli, which have been so fun to re listen to while I draw. I think it's safe to say at this point that everything in life somehow connects back to one of your episodes and all of my friends and relations are thoroughly sick of me going ooh, ooh. There's a podcast episode about that. Thank you so much for all of the education and company you provided over the years. I also recently went through a big move to a new town at the start of this year, so having comfort media to lean on in the transition has been essential. Thank you again for all that you are and all that you do. I hope your spring season is off to as positive a start as possible. Questionably proportioned practice sketches attached. I promise I will send better ones in future. These look spectacular to me. I mean, I don't think these are bad. They may be practice, but you're nailing it. Listen, we love art. I love sporting artists. I love that Ballet was a good one. Dancers are a really good opportunity to study the mechanics of the human body, which is very cool. This also a little bit is going to relate to something I'm going to talk about on Friday. So okay, when we talk about human figure drawing, there is comedy coming on Friday.
- [42:21]
Tracy V. Wilson
Great.
- [42:22]
Hanley Fry
If you would like to write to us, you can do so @HistoryPodcast. If you would like to see the show notes for the episode, they are available@mystinhistory.com you'll see all the sources we used. If you would like to subscribe to the podcast and you haven't done so yet, you can do that anywhere you listen to your favorite shows.
- [42:48]
Tracy V. Wilson
Stuff youf Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio 15, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
- [43:03]
Hanley Fry
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Tracy V. Wilson
I love eggs. I turn to them all the time as a quick and easy way to start a meal. And Vital Farms eggs are brought to you by hens that have access to fresh air and sunshine and you can actually look up on the carton and see the farm eggs came from. Vital Farms is also a certified B corporation with a purpose to improve the lives of people, animals and the planet through food. Look for the black egg carton in the egg aisle and visit vitalpharms.com to learn more. Vital Good Eggs no Shortcuts Liberty Mutual
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Liberty Mutual / Electric For All Advertiser
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Tracy V. Wilson
Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty.
- [44:41]
Robert Smigel
Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy not quite on Humor Me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week. My guests, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an acapella band with their between songs banter.
- [44:59]
Hanley Fry
Where does your group perform?
- [45:00]
Robert Smigel
We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [45:11]
Tracy V. Wilson
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.