European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 22, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Americans Wilt Send 2.7billion Christmas cards this season deluding postal workers. The first known commercial Christmas card left was produced 150 years ago in England. Holiday cards through the years from wire reports Christmas 1843 found British designer writer and civil servant Henry Cole too Busy to write the traditional Christmas letters to family and friends. So he commissioned London artist John Calcott Horsley to create a card. It depicted three scenes of victorian life and carried the simple greeting Quot a merry Christmas and a Happy new year to  Cole had the card printed and sent it to 1,000 people. It was a Success. The inventor of the Christmas card not incidentally also invented the adhesive postage stamp and introduced the postal system to England the enactment of the Penny postage act three years later allowed British citizens to Send a letter anywhere in England for just a Penny and Laid the groundwork for the commercial Success of the Christmas card Louis Prang a German who settled in Boston in 1050, established the Christmas card in the United states his Early designs were no larger than business cards and bore the simple inscription merry  by the 1880s, Prang s Christmas cards had grown in size to 7-by-9 inches. Prang perfected the lithographic process of multicoloured printing in the 1870s, often using As Many As 20 colors on a single card. By 1801, his thriving business was printing 5 million cards per year. Following the turn of the Century Christmas cards continued to evolve. Depression Era cards expressed Hope that better times were ahead. During world War ii Many Christmas cards depicted Uncle Sam and other patriotic motifs. Santa Claus also came into Vogue during the same period. Humorous cards were a hit during the cold War years while Flower children and peace symbols adorned Many Christmas cards of the 1960s. A renewed emphasis on family values sparked an interest in traditional Holiday symbolism and nostalgia during the 1970s. Chris Riddle who Heads the american greetings corps Christmas creative team said cards today have come a Long Way from the simple Quot merry Christmas Quot wish. Diversity is the key to successful present Day Christmas cards. Quot today the philosophy is to offer something for every one. We Call it Micro marketing in our 1993 Christmas collection we offer cards in 13 foreign languages special afro Centric designs Large print cards for people with reduced vision Ana just about every conceivable style under the Sun from religious to cute to traditional a including activity cards and three dimensional pop out cards for sending to children Quot one of the biggest trends we be noted is the growing interest in so called alternative Christmas cards which offer a witty sometimes satirical look at Holiday traditions current events and pop culture Quot Riddle said. Alternative humor especially is popular with younger shoppers baby Boomers and men. A typical alternative card depicts socks the Clinton family cat knocking Over the National tree during the annual White House tree lighting ceremony. Another card recommends leaving Santa a plate of Piragis on Christmas eve instead of cookies and milk since Santa is Quot North  Here Are some greeting card titbits e according to the hallmark card company americans will Send 2.7 billion Christmas cards this year. It says it provides the world s largest selection with 2,600 individual card designs. An 1886 Christmas card artist unknown. It also has 100 hanukah designs this year. One of the outstanding cards created from hallmark artist Michelle Berg s painting Victory shows Judah Maccabee returning victoriously from Battle. / a it s Feliz Navidad at american greetings which has expanded its la Flor Spanish language line. Cards also Are available for other hispanic celebrations such As Dia Del Santo name Day. A each Sony entertainment Christmas card though Plain contains a compact disc with one Christmas song Sung by a popular artist a White Christmas by Tony Bennett holy night by Mahalia Jackson Jingle Beils by Patti Page and six More. More festive Are the 24 cd cards by the Deco disc industries inc. Of Burbank calif., featuring Bing Crosby Nat King Cole the platters Emerson Lake amp Palmer and others singing popular Holiday music. A the Black Santa collection by Ardie Sayers and her husband football Hall of Famer Cale Sayers is new from Cleo inc a division of Gibson greetings co the illustrations Are by Ardie Sayers. A Unicof probably the Best known of the Benefit cards has raised close to $500 million through the Sale of its greeting cards since the program started in 1949, according to Nancy Sharp Zickerman of the . Committee for Unicof. This year it offers about 400 designs including a Gold embossed card of the holy family Cut out cards with snowmen and Carlers and laser Cut card with a Wreath design. The cards Are available from volunteers and special groups. A winsome Watercolour of three pups is the illustration for the seeing Eye the organization the it matches dog guides with Blind people. The painting by Pat Longley of Flor Ham Park n.j., depicts a Black Labrador retriever a German Shepherd and a Golden retriever a Breeds that predominate among guide dogs a another traditional Benefit to add to mailings Are can Somas seals from the american lung association. This year s design by Mike Chisarik of the Franklin mint features a picture of swans flying Over a snowy landscape. According to or. Alfred Munzer Ala president Christmas Seal contributions will be largely use to fight an old problem tuberculosis which Nas reemerged As a serious threat in recent years. A originals of Horsely s first card Are featured at 150th anniversary exhibits during the Holiday season at the Victoria and Albert museum in London and at the a Mark visitors Center in Kansas f Irv the Jennings Osborne family Home in Little Rock ark., features More than 1 million tights. By Nita Lelyveld the associated press Ach Christmas on a roof in Corpus Christi Texas Santa orbits the Earth in a spaceship while in the Yard below a mechanized doll plays Christmas carols on a piano and a motorized Seesaw covered in Christmas lights swings endlessly up and Down. In los Angeles a House wrapped completely in foil and then draped in a hundreds of White Christmas lights reflects and reflects a to blinding effect. Come december a sometimes even earlier a americans decorate their property for the holidays. Some do it sedately some Over the top. Some houses glow like Highway truck stops from More than a mile away. And some attract so Many visitors that the neighbors file suit. Usually you have to drive around Back roads to find these Christmas wonders. This month they re at the smithsonian. Sixty photographs of fro Byard Christmas decorations line the Walls of a gallery at the National museum of american history in a new exhibit merry Christmas America a front Yard View of the Holiday. They re the work of Christina Patoski of fort Worth Texas who has wandered the country for the past 20 Winters searching out the brightest and most original Christmas lights. She believes the decorations Are a unique form of american Folk Art. She also believes that for some people they re the Only Chance All year to be playful Quot i think there Are a lot of locked up Rube Goldbergs out there a creative people who just have no other outlet Quot Patoski says. Take Bill Richardson of Nocona Texas who for years went to great lengths to create highly unusual displays put of Odds and ends he scavenged. It he covered old pantyhose Racks from a drugstore in Bright strings of lights. He filled jars with red and Green liquid and propped them up to catch the reflections. He Hung the tops of tin cans from a tree in his Yard. When Patoski came to photograph Richardson s House he was right out front with a guest Book getting everyone who came by to sign. Quot he had people sign that Book from As far away As Japan Quot Patoski said. She finds out about most of the displays by word of Mouth stopping in local convenience stores asking anyone Ana everyone where to look. In Dallas she found one family that covers its Lawn in Fluffy White Cotton in lieu of Snow. In Florida and California she saw Palm Trees lighted up As tropical Christmas Trees. On a Rockville md., Lawn she saw baby Jesus being admired by a Wise Man Santa and a snowman. One woman in fort Worth sets up a Manger watched Over by 11 Wise men with a White baby and a Black baby lying in cribs Side by Side. Since 1973, Patoski has taken nearly 750 photos of Christmas displays she Hopes one Day to turn them into a Book. Quot the amazing thing is that All kinds of people do this a Young and old Rich and poor in cities and the country Quot she says. Quot it s a very pervasive custom and it s not fading in  dreaming of a Green Christmas by the associated press is it environmentally naughty to Cut Down an Evergreen tree to decorate for Christmas or use shiny wrapping paper or Send piles of Christmas cards Quot it might be Kinder to the environment not to have live Christmas Trees wrapping paper excessive packages and decorative burning lights Quot says Bob Testin a packaging scientist at Clemson University so Quot but you have to weigh those concerns with the psychological benefits they provide which Are important too. People should t 1 feel guilty about celebrating such a wonderful  yes there will be an increase in solid waste right after Christmas agrees Dick White a solid waste expert at the University. That Means extra work for trash collectors and Landfill operators. South Carolina is one state that has banned Yard waste from state landfills which could pose a problem for disposing of the Trees after Christmas but Diane Waddle director of the s. C. Clean and Beautiful program says people can copy what her stale s residents often do a take part  program like the Quot grinding the greens Quot project which will either grind up Trees for mulch or use them in lakes and streams to create fish habitat. If you want to stay As Quot Green Quot As possible Testin and White say look for gifts that have simplified or reduced packaging wrappings and cards made from recycled materials and those printed with soy Ink. Will it make a difference Quot probably not Quot Testin concedes. Quot but if it keeps a person from feeling guilty about celebrating Christmas it s Worth  16 the stars and stripes wednesday december 22, 1993