Get your free printable Christmas cards here,
it's, well, free. 🙂
By the way, did you know that railways are intricately linked
with Christmas cards and post offices and stamps?
They are, or they were, because times they are
a'changing and most everything is coming online, including
online Christmas cards (ecards) – one form of which is what
you'll find here on this page.
Depicted above: An antique postcard from 1909
(Victorian style) with a cute angel lighting candles on a
Christmas tree. Text says: "A Merry Christmas"
Depicted above: A Christmas rebus card by
Whitney from 1923 with a girl in a red dress, a laurel, a cat
outside the window and, of course, the rebus …
Anyways, the history of the christmas card is
such that once the railroads were spread out over the country
(in the Western world that happened during the mid-to late
1800s), well then a lot more mail could be transported around by
trains than by the horse and carriage that had been used up
until then.
So, this coincided with the first postal
services that regular people could afford, generally offered by
government controlled post offices.
This in turn coincided with the idea of
sending "open one page letters" (antique postcards) as well as
with the idea to print some sort of picture on one side of those
very vintage postcards. And there you go: the birth of the
postcard.
The very first of the picture postcards that
we'd recognize as an actual Christmas card was printed and sent
in Great Britain in 1843 by Sir Henry Cole. He'd commissioned a
friend, an artist by the name of John Horsley to draw a merry
scene with people eating, drinking and celebrating.
This, the world's first Christmas greeting card (which was in
fact also a New Year card) looked like this:
Depicted above: The very first Christmas card
in the world – by artist John Horsley and Henry Cole in 1843.
Shows a merry christmas dinner scene with adults as well as
children drinking red wine. The card carries the text, "A Merry
Christmas and a Happy New Year to You (From …) "
Now, the above picture is printable to be sure
(and bigger in reality than it looks on the screen), if you want
to send someone a copy of the world's first Christmas card. And
since it's Henry Cole's original design you can even add your
name in the bottom right corner. The quality is as high as we
could make it, but this is an antique postcard, so please note
that the quality isn't quite as high as with the following
printable Christmas cards (below).
Around the turn of the 18th century (circa
1900) prices of postcards and stamps were low enough that a
large percentage of the population in many Western countries
could afford to send a Christmas card, and so production and use
of these quaint little greeting cards exploded.
Favorite subjects for the images on the
Christmas postcards were and still are: religious themes, winter
scenes (preferably with snow), drawings or photos of flowers and
plants as well as birds and other animals, pictures of children,
presents, Christmas trees (and decorations) and of course
drawings of Santa Claus, his sleigh and his reindeer.
Depicted above: A printable vintage Christmas
postcard with Santa Claus carrying holly branches and Christmas
presents for children. The card's text reads: "St. Nick's
prowling around in the snow. While you're snuggling comfy and
all aglow. He's headed straight for your own house. And in he'll
steal as quiet as a mouse."
Sometime after 1910 people also started to
make their own home made Christmas cards – adding all sorts of
things like their own drawings, glitter, foil, ribbons, buttons
and other paraphernalia … this practice has continued to this
day where homemade greeting cards is practically an art form!
This collection of free
printable Christmas cards, vintage Christmas cards and Christmas
card greetings, etc. is for your private entertainment and use
only. They are not to be used commercially – thank you in
beforehand!
All the free printable
Christmas cards here are .JPG of pretty good quality. You should
note that the original image you'll be saving is BIGGER it seems
on the screen – it's supposed to print in a proper postcard size
around 3.5 to
4 inches
x 4.5 to
inches
(equalling from 9×13 cm to 10×15 cm) in a good print quality
(usually 250-300 dpi).
So, a good way to proceed
is usually to pick the option 'original size' in your printing
software. And, of course, using heavy (thick) printing paper (or
light card board paper meant for printing).
If you right-click an image
you will get the option of choosing 'Save image as' or 'Save
link as' or something along those lines. You can then edit
and/or print it at your leisure.
But enough talk, now. Let's have some totally
free printable Christmas Cards …
Depicted above: printable modern Christmas
card, blue with golden bells, snowflakes and a quote on gifts by
Oren Arnold that reads: "Christmas gift suggestions: To your
enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your
heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child,
a good example. To yourself, respect."
Depicted above: A printable vintage greeting
card with drawing of flowers and the text: "Season's
Greetings" (text added later).
Depicted above, left: An antique printable
card (bigger than it looks!) of an angel girl in pink dress
holding a holly branch while a a star is shining down from
above. The text reads: "A merry Christmas"
Depicted above, right: printable Victorian
Christmas post card (bigger than it looks!) of a green clad
Santa Claus carrying a bag whilst two children in a house are
looking at him through a window. The text says: "Merry
Christmas to You"
Depicted above: Printable red modern Christmas
card with golden bells, snowflakes and a greeting, saying: "Merry
Christmas and Happy New Year! May you be surrounded by things
that bring you cheer."
Depicted above, left: Vintage New Year and
Christmas greeting card (larger than it looks!) with a
watercolor painting of 2 colorful winter birds and a white
border with the words: "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year"
Depicted above, right: Negishi – a Japanese
woodblock print (larger than it looks!) by Charles W Bartlett
made in 1916 showing a small snow covered village and trees,
three people and a lake. The red and yellow text in oriental
lettering, added later, reads, "Merry Christmas"
Depicted above: A Christmas card showing a
happy snow man with green gloves, a red bell, small golden bells
as buttons, a black hat and a broom with a greeting written on
it, "Hi There! Merry Christmas"
Depicted above: A red, blue and white holiday
greeting card from the 1930s of a forest (or suburb) scene with
two people in what looks like medieval clothes and (somewhat
incongruously) Christmas hats, a snow covered lamp post and
house. The text says, "Christmas Cheer Be Yours"
Depicted above: An antique die cut Christmas
greeting card, somewhat art nouveau-like from circa 1900, with
silver and holly and the text, "With Best Christmas Wishes".
Here at Quotescoop.com we sincerely wish you a
wonderful Christmas as well! 🙂
Christmas Greetings – Christmas Quotes & Christmas Poems
for Your Christmas Cards
Christmas Quotes to Warm Your Heart and Make You Smile
and Laugh
Heartwarming and Funny Quotes about Christmas – plus
some Christmas Thoughts
The Best Christmas Quotes and Thoughts: Sweet, Warm and
Meaningful Through All of Time
A Big Package of Christmas Sayings and Christmas
Thoughts
Funny and Hilarious Christmas Sayings and Provocative,
Helpful Christmas Thoughts
Quotescoop's Christmas Poems – from Inspirational to
Funny Christmas Poems
12 Funny Christmas Poems – and Humorous Christmas Poems
to Chuckle, Chortle and Cackle by
A Collection of Free Printable Christmas Cards and Funny
& Vintage Christmas Cards & Christmas Card Greetings
The Big Question: Is Santa Claus Real? Warm Santa Humor
and Santa Claus Jokes and Quotes
What Is Christmas Really? Formal, Funny, Friendly and
Feisty Answers to the Meaning of Christmas
Fun Ideas for Christmas Games: Also Printable and Trivia
Activities
Funny and Entertaining Christmas Party Ideas and
Christmas Party Activities
Entertaining Christmas Party Games for the Whole Family
& Christmas Party Ideas for Kids and Adults
Funny Mental and Physical Office Christmas Party Games
for the Best Company Christmas Parties
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