AngDesign

Some of the earliest examples of greetings cards were on decorated paper, yet they were very basic. St. Valentine’s Day cards were sent, however they were not actually like a card would be today, in fact it was a very daintily orientated piece of paper with a lovingly written letter, sent by men to their female friends.  These became more and more popular however they were only available to those who could afford them as they were not for the poor.

Henry Cole plays a very important part in the history of the greetings card, for it was he who invented the idea, and published the very first Christmas card.  Before Christmas cards came about, letters were usually sent to family and friends who would not be seen over the Christmas period.

H. Dobbs

One of the earliest designers of tills embossed paper was H. Dobbs.  He began this manufacturing at number 8 New Bridge Street London, in 1803.  In 1851 he was known as Dobbs Kidd and Company after his business continued to grow steadily.  He was therefore at that time regarded as one of the leading manufacturers of this type of paper, and ornamental or Valentines, bearing the name of Dobbs are highly sought after by collectors today. During the 1840's and 1850's, Dobbs', Valentine designs were in great demand and considerable amounts were shipped to North America as well as the principle colonies.

It was said that Dobbs and company, and J. and F. Harwood of 26 Fenchurch Street, London were the main publishers of this sort of writing paper, even though many other publishers produced some brilliant work.

De La Rue

Another firm which also increased the production of Christmas cards was De La Rue. In the 1820's, when its founder Thomas De La Rue, who was from Guernsey, was still in charge, embossed paper bonnets were made.  It is considered that these were quite possibly the earliest disposable clothing, Playing cards and bank notes were also printed at De La Rue.  Thomas De La Rue invented the best type of shiny, white surfaced card.  This invention was later used by many other manufacturers of Christmas cards.  De La Rue had many artists, these included W. S. Coleman, who was very well known for his nude drawings of girls, J. M. Dealy, who also included children in his drawings quite a lot, and Ernest Griset, who was one of the finest painters of animals and birds.