The credit for the earliest published Christmas card has usually gone to Sir Henry Cole who in 1843 commissioned John Callcott Horsley to produce this image, a hand-coloured lithograph of a family party with the message, “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You.” 1,000 of these were manufactured and sent out, causing a minor scandal because the family on the card appeared to be drinking.
Recently, however, Timothy Larsen (editor of the splendid Oxford Handbook of Christmas) has found a notice in the December 7, 1829 issue of the Hampshire Chronicle: “We learn that the ‘Olde Winchester’ Christmas and New Year’s Greetings, designed by Mr. A. Clements, of Northgate Studio, are receiving a most cordial welcome from Christmas card buyers, sales already nearing the 2000 mark. Large numbers have been sent abroad to friends interested in Winchester”.