"Official" Christmas cards began with Queen Victoria in the 1840s. The British royal family's cards are 
generally portraits reflectingsignificant personal events of the year.Despite the governing
practice of the separation of church and state within American politics, there is a long-standing custom
for the President and First Lady to send White House Christmas Cards each holiday season. 
The practice originated with President Calvin Coolidge, who was the first president to issue a written
statement of peaceful tidings during the holidays in 1927. President Herbert Hoover was the
first to give Christmas notes to the White House staff, and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the
first president to utilize the card format (rather than the previously used notes or a written statement)
that most closely resembles the Christmas cards of today. In 1953, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower 
issued the first official White House card. The cards usually depict White House scenes
as rendered by prominent American artists. The number of recipients has snowballed over the decades,
from just 2,000 in 1961 to 1.4 million in 2005. 

 

（source from：wikipedia.org & Photo by rawpixel and Aaron Burden on Unsplash）