In 1840 in London, England, a British narrative painter named John Callcott Horsley designed the very first commercial Christmas card.  Sir Henry Cole, first director of the Victoria and Albert Museum and a friend of Horsley, requested he do this.  The one thousand Christmas and New Year’s cards he designed never went on sale until 1843.  Controversy surrounded the card because it depicted a family toasting Christmas.  Although puritans denounced it immediately, many others loved the idea.  Other artists followed Horsley’s example, as the Christmas card became exceedingly popular.  In 1849, English artist William Egley designed an extremely popular Christmas card.  New years greeting cards, on the other hand, had been around since 1796 when merchants sent them to their customers.  These cards usually said best wishes for the New Year.  The fashionable Christmas cards gradually replaced the New Year’s cards. 

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Christmas songs are as diverse and varied as the individuals that listen to them.  The number of Christmas songs recorded over the years is staggering.  More than any other holiday during the year, Christmas definitely has the most songs.  As soon as thanksgiving is over, radio stations across the country start playing the Christmas classics along with new ones.  You realize just how many Christmas songs there are, when you can listen to one radio station for days and not hear any repeated.  As children, many of us can remember going door to door in the snow singing Christmas carols.

There are wonderful classic Christmas songs that many people grew up hearing and still listen to today because they are timeless.  Here are some interesting facts you probably never knew about the top holiday songs:

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