CHRISTMAS GREETINGS - No.1 GREETING - THE CHRISTMAS CARD - PHOENIX FLAME - Press Edition

Sep 28, 2026

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Christmas greetings text describing seasonal preparation and wishes, followed by historical notes on an early American Christmas card. It credits a painted card sent by Mrs. Whitney for Charles Dickens to Louis Prang, and explains Prang’s commercial production with prize incentives in 1874. The document also introduces “PHOENIX FLAME” and provides Christmas-themed editorial verses and extended excerpts from Dickens on Christmas fellowship, charity, renewed social warmth, and holiday goodwill.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages24

Reading Time37 min

AccessFree to download

CHRISTMAS GREETINGS

PHOENIX METAL CAP CO.

No.1 GREETING - THE CHRISTMAS CARD

PHOENIX FLAME

Press Edition

Elmun Jacol # CHRISTMAS GREETINGS Now IS THE TIME for all—men,women and children—to prepare for a glorious holiday. Now is the time for little Willie to pretend the annualhalo has settled permanently on his head...again.Andfor little Willie's Pop to look impatiently from the calen-dar on the wall to the electric train carefully hidden onthe closet shelf. Now is the time for smiling back at the red-clad menof the hour;for putting wraps on precious packages;forgarlanding windows with holly. Now is the time for laughter,music and song;and forre-telling the beautiful and almost 2000-year-old Storyof the First Christmas. Now is the time for sending greetings to those whoseorders and consideration mean so much. Now is the time to wish you all the joys of the Christ-mas Season.Now is the time to say two little and sin-cerely meant words:Merry Christmas! PHOENIX METAL CAP CO. 3720 Fourteenth Ave.,BROOKLYN 2444 W.Sixteenth St.,CHICAGO ElnurJarobn No.1 GREETING THE CHRISTMAS CARD,serving as a frontis-piece for our Holiday Number,is believedto be the first one produced in America.Itwas originally painted by a Mrs.Whitneyfor Charles Dickens(observe signature)who sent it as a personal greeting to LouisPrang,a Boston lithographer. Quick to appreciate the sentiment sodeftly delineated,Mr.Prang had copies run off for friends and relatives.This wasin 1874.The copies created such favorablecomment that he decided the following yearto produce similar greetings commercially.He offered prizes from $200 to $2,000 foreffective designs.Some of the fine artistsof the period competed. Many of these prize cards,together withother early greetings,have been preservedin the collection of Miss Dorothea Law-rence,Plainfield,N.J.,from whom we ob-tained this interesting reproduction. # PHOENIX FLAME Press Edition See the blazing yule before ns,Strike the harp and join the chorus,Follow me in merry measure,While I tell the yuletide treasure! Fast away the old year passes,Hail the new,ye lads and lasses!Sing we joyous all together,Heedless of the wind and weather! Welsh Carol. THIS IS THE TIME OF THE YEAR when a fellow by the name of Santa Claus takesover the editorial chair and chore.Pretty easy for the old boy.All he has to do islift down the volumes from the“D”shelf...Dickens,that is.Better hurry!Thesebooks may gather dust and cobwebs most of the year,but at Christmastime theyare the most active in the newspaper library. No other writer,before or since,has caught the Christmas spirit as Dickens did,or used it more often as a theme.And,despite this age of war and atom bombs,fear and cynicism,his words ring true as ever.Here are some excerpts from thebooks of Dickens(Santa Claus quoting)which express his idea of the Christmasfellowship: "Christmastime!That man must be a inisanthrope indeed in whose breastsomething like a jovial feeling is not roused—in whose mind some pleasant associa-tions are not wakened—by the recurrence of Christmas. “There are people who will tell you that Christmas is not to them what it used to be;that each succeeding Christmas has found some cherished hope or happy pros-pect of the year before dimmed or passed away;that the present only serves to re-mind them of reduced circumstances and straitened incomes—of the feasts theyonce bestowed on hollow friends,and of the cold looks that meet them now,in ad-versity and misfortune. "Never heed such dismal reminiscences.There are few men who have lived longenough in the world who cannot call up such thoughts any day in the year.Then donot select the imerriest of the 365 for your doleful recollections,but draw your chairnearer the blazing fire—fill the glass and send round the song." "Reflect upon your present blessings——of which every man has many—notupon your past misfortunes,of which all men have some.Fill your glass again,witha merry face and contented heart.Our life on it,but your Christmas shall be merry,and your 1lew year a happy one!”

FAQs

What seasonal message is emphasized at the start of the document?

The text urges everyone to prepare for a glorious holiday and sends wishes for the joys of the Christmas season, ending with the sincere words “Merry Christmas!”

How does the document explain the origin of “THE CHRISTMAS CARD” in America?

It states that the Christmas card believed to be the first produced in America was originally painted by a Mrs. Whitney for Charles Dickens and sent as a personal greeting to Louis Prang, a Boston lithographer.

What role does Dickens play in the “PHOENIX FLAME” section?

The section frames Santa Claus as quoting excerpts from Dickens’s works to express an ideal of Christmas fellowship, charity, renewed social feelings, and joyful reflection.

Sep 28, 2026

Uploaded by Aria