The name Prang may be familiar to you. In 1882, L. Prang and Company began selling art supplies to Americans. The founder, Louis Prang, was a printer, lithographer, publishers, and advocate for bringing art education to children.
In 1875, more than 30 years after the first Christmas card was printed in Britain (apparently, you weren’t going to see a lot of nativity scenes or giant air-fill snow globes in front yards in Puritan society), Prang printed the first Christmas card in the United States. According to the Smithsonian Magazine (if you missed the link with card 206, you get a second chance here), the card featured a painted flower and a simple greeting, “Merry Christmas.”
Read the whole story at the New England Historical Society website, it’s a good one.