<P> A Christmas card is generally commercially designed and purchased for the occasion . The content of the design might relate directly to the Christmas narrative with depictions of the Nativity of Jesus, or have Christian symbols such as the Star of Bethlehem or a white dove representing both the Holy Spirit and Peace . Many Christmas cards show Christmas traditions, such as seasonal figures (e.g., Santa Claus, snowmen, and reindeer), objects associated with Christmas such as candles, holly, baubles, and Christmas trees, and Christmastime activities such as shopping, caroling, and partying, or other aspects of the season such as the snow and wildlife of the northern winter . Some secular cards depict nostalgic scenes of the past such as crinolined shoppers in 19th century streetscapes; others are humorous, particularly in depicting the antics of Santa and his elves . </P> <P> The first recorded Christmas cards were sent by Michael Maier to James I of England and his son Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales in 1611 . It was discovered in 1979 by Adam McLean in the Scottish Record Office . They incorporated Rosicrucian imagery, with the words of the greeting--"A greeting on the birthday of the Sacred King, to the most worshipful and energetic lord and most eminent James, King of Great Britain and Ireland, and Defender of the true faith, with a gesture of joyful celebration of the Birthday of the Lord, in most joyand fortune, we enter into the new auspicious year 1612"--being laid out to form a rose . </P> <P> The next cards were commissioned by Sir Henry Cole and illustrated by John Callcott Horsley in London on 1st May 1843 . The central picture showed three generations of a family raising a toast to the card's recipient: on either side were scenes of charity, with food and clothing being given to the poor . Allegedly the image of the family drinking wine together proved controversial, but the idea was shrewd: Cole had helped introduce the Penny Post three years earlier . Two batches totaling 2,050 cards were printed and sold that year for a shilling each . </P> <P> Early British cards rarely showed winter or religious themes, instead favoring flowers, fairies and other fanciful designs that reminded the recipient of the approach of spring . Humorous and sentimental images of children and animals were popular, as were increasingly elaborate shapes, decorations and materials . At Christmas 1873, the lithograph firm Prang and Mayer began creating greeting cards for the popular market in Britain The firm began selling the Christmas card in America in 1874, thus becoming the first printer to offer cards in America . Its owner, Louis Prang, is sometimes called the "father of the American Christmas card ." By the 1880s, Prang was producing over five million cards a year by using the chromolithography process of printmaking . However, the popularity of his cards led to cheap imitations that eventually drove him from the market . The advent of the postcard spelled the end for elaborate Victorian - style cards, but by the 1920s, cards with envelopes had returned . The extensive Laura Seddon Greeting Card Collection from the Manchester Metropolitan University gathers 32,000 Victorian and Edwardian greeting cards, printed by the major publishers of the day, including Britain's first commercially produced Christmas card . </P>

When were the first commercial christmas cards sold in london