The best thing about anthropology and cultural analysis is that they reveal fresh, unexpected perspectives on seemingly ordinary things. We surround ourselves with a lot of things in our daily lives that seem banal, thinking they have always been there. However, it's not always the case. As you dig into the roots and cultural history of some of these things, you can make some intriguing discoveries!
As we are now in the middle of the winter holiday season, I want to start with a cultural analysis of some curious artefacts we associate with winter festivals, i.e. Christmas and New Year: festive postcards. I thought it would be an interesting example to explore, as the story of Christmas postcards is also a story of how relatively trivial objects play a huge role in shaping and reflecting culture and customs.
Where do Christmas cards originate from?
We probably don’t realize this now, but many Christmas traditions such as sending postcards, Santa Claus, Christmas stockings, and crackers, actually have their roots in British Victorian culture. It was both Queen Victoria’s family and the Victorian context that enabled the development of Christmas traditions, which then spread to many other countries around the world.
The very first Christmas card was designed in 1843 by the artist and illustrator John Callcott Horsley, who was commissioned by Sir Henry Cole, a Civil Servant and inventor. This postcard sparked some controversy, however, because it depicted a young child drinking wine.
Greetings card, John Callcott Horsley, 1843, England. Museum no. MSL.3293-1987. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
The first Christmas cards were hand-produced, which meant that the cost of production was high. Hence, only rich people could afford to buy one as a gift. But with the development of industrialization in the 1860s-1870s a new printing technique appeared called chromolithography. It was based on a steam-powered printing press and made the printing process much faster and cheaper. A lot of publishers started to commercialize Christmas cards and they soon became extremely popular with the wider public, especially the middle class.
Postcard Images. What was on the cards?
Interestingly enough, the very first Victorian Christmas cards did not represent the traditional Christmas images we know today. They contained both religious and pagan imagery and often used pictures of flowers, birds, or green village houses, which rather evoked associations with the coming of spring.
Left to right: Shaped Christmas card with paper lace, unknown, about 1870, England. Museum no. E.1938-1953. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London. 'A Merry Christmas' (card with paper lace), unknown, 1860 – 80, England. Museum no. E.1925-1953. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Some postcards also portrayed Father Christmas. It was only later that card designers began to depict quaint villages covered in snow, snowmen and children skating, and animals sheltering from snowstorms - all in the name of spreading the “White Christmas” spirit.
Christmas cards, late 19th century, England. Museum numbers (clockwise from top): E.1996-1953/E.378-1971/ E.1971-1953/E.382-1971. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Christmas cards as everyday works of art
Christmas cards also played an enormous role in bringing art to Victorian homes.
The illustrations were often made by well-known fine artists, and the texts in the cards sometimes referenced British authors/ poets like Charles Dickens or Robert Burns. It gave the cards a more sophisticated look: the verses and artwork selected were a way of expressing the sender's taste. As a result, Christmas cards became something bigger than just a sentimental object or a testimony of friendship and affection. They also came to be seen as pieces of art and educational tools for the promotion of culture, and for making art and poetry accessible to the wider population. They played a huge role in eliminating the boundaries between elite and popular culture, between “high art” and design.
In fact, people often displayed them in their homes on the walls or mantelpieces like they would display real artwork (which is something I personally like doing myself even now) :)
The Legacy of Christmas Postcards
The fascinating thing about Christmas postcards is that such a humble little object reflected so many cultural shifts of its age at the same time.
It represented a society that was trying to balance industrial progress and mass culture with the desire to make art that had a fine aesthetic and moral quality. It mirrored the changing tastes and habits of the Victorian public and marked the emergence of a shared culture among different groups of the population. It also drew on some really curious practices that were popular at the time, such as scrapbooking and collecting (which I’m planning to explore in one of my future posts).
But the most amazing thing for us is probably that these little objects bring back the spirit of an age that is now long gone and add to the overall festive atmosphere of the winter holidays!
Sources
Dodd, S. (2008). Conspicuous Consumption and Festive Follies: Victorian Images of Christmas. In Christmas, Ideology and Popular Culture. Edinburgh University Press.
Janzen, K. L. (2014). Poetry, Pictures, and Popular Publishing: The Illustrated Gift Book and Victorian Visual Culture, 1855-1875. Ohio University Press.
Zakreski, P. (2015). The Victorian Christmas Card as Aesthetic Object: 'Very interesting ephemera of a very interesting period in English Art-production'. Journal of Design History, 28(4), 356-372.
Online Sources:
Country Life. (2018, December 20). The Perennial Fascination of Snow at Christmas, from Charles Dickens to the Little Ice Age. Country Life. Retrieved from https://www.countrylife.co.uk/out-and-about/perennial-fascination-snow-christmas-charles-dickens-little-ice-age-209642
Victoria and Albert Museum. (n.d.). The first Christmas card. Retrieved from https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/the-first-christmas-card
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