Nearly a century ago in England, an etcher named W. M. Egley Jun. covered an etching plate with cheery, squiggly figures, inscribed it: "A Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year to You," sent impressions to his friends. So far as is known, this was the first Christmas card. Today, in the U. S. alone, Christmas cards have become a $30,000,000-a-year industry. Artistically most cards are loathsome, crawling with tinsel, Scottie dogs and bilious greenery, but good U. S. artists have begun to muscle in on the trade.
Last fortnight Manhattan's American Artists Group,...
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