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Christmas Card Day and National Pastry Day

We’re cruising right along through Advent this year and have come to a wonderful crossroads. Today we celebrate Christmas Cards and Pastries.

Christmas Card Day

The first Christmas cards were created by Sir Henry Cole in 1843 as a way to popularize the new Postal Service in England. Sending letters had been an expensive and difficult prospect when they were delivered by carriage over great distances. Trains made it possible to send a letter anywhere in the United Kingdom for a penny. With help from his friend, artist John Horsely, the Christmas cards were available for a shilling. The card was a tri-fold creation with illustrated acts of charity and of a family having a holiday meal. These simple greetings now trade in auction for thousands of pounds.

The British card exchange caught on in Europe, particularly in Germany. A printer from Germany, Louis Prang, took his expertise to the USA and in 1875 began mass producing Christmas cards. This made them more affordable to people. They first appeared as luxury items in the 1840’s, but Prang’s large scale printing made them more accessible and popular in America.

In 1915, Joyce C Hall and his brothers Rollie and William pooled their money to buy an engraving firm to replace the postcard business they’d been pursuing since 1910 in Kansas City, Missouri. This laid the groundwork of what became the Hallmark Card company. From the ashes of disaster, the company has grown to become a household name that brought $3.8 billion in revenue last year.

The latest developments in Christmas cards are cards with sound cards and even ecards that can be sent over the internet from companies such as Blue Mountain, American Greetings, and 123 Greetings. There are even video Christmas cards from companies like JibJab where you can upload pictures that are inserted into the performance to create dancing elves and other hilarious greetings.

From the simple greetings of Sir Henry to the high tech wonders of today, Christmas cards have grown in popularity and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

National Pastry Day

December 9th is National Pastry Day and how can you go wrong? I love pastries of all kinds.

So exactly what is a pastry? A wide variety of baked goods featuring dough that’s rolled out thin and used as a base for such treats as pies, tarts, popovers and even baklava. Mmmm…

Pastry began in the Middle East with delicious dishes featuring flaky phyllo dough like baklava. In the wake of the Crusades, the exposure to the cuisine of the Holy Land kicked off an explosion of pastry baking in Europe. This developed throughout the Renaissance. French and Italian chefs perfected choux and puff pastry techniques that are still used today. These techniques produce masterpieces like Napoleons, Lobster Tails and Palmiers.

Here are some videos to teach you how to produce some marvelous holiday pastries that you can enjoy today: