by Shannon Butler In our collections here in the Local History room is an interesting album of Victorian era holiday cards. Since we are in the midst of that ‘most wonderful time of the year’ we thought we would share some of the cards with you. Today, we will take a look at some Christmas cards made by Raphael Tuck and Sons. This company based just outside of London, begin its work by selling pictures and frames in 1866, by the 1880s they had offices all over the world, including one in New York City. They produced their first Christmas card in 1871, and would go on to great success in the Postcard industry by the turn of the 20th century. In 1880, Adolph Tuck (son of the founder) launched a contest offering 5,000 pounds in prizes for the best Christmas card designs. It was a great success with over 5,000 paintings being sent in for consideration. As a result, we end up with an interesting variety of cards that don’t look quite like our Christmas cards do today. The first Christmas card is said to have been designed and sold in England in 1843 by Sir. Henry Cole (ironically a [...]