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One of the founding fathers of London's Victoria & Albert Museum, Sir Henry Cole, an English merchant and social crusader, ordered the first printed Christmas cards in the world in London. He didn't have enough time in 1843 to individually handwrite greetings to every relative, friend, and business partner. As a result, this extremely busy man asked illustrator John Colcott Horsley to create a sketch, which was then printed. A skilled artist then painted the cards by hand. The client merely needed to sign and note something.