Louis Prang | Father of the American Christmas Card

Louis Prang not only started the company that makes some of my favorite art classroom supplies, he created the artist's color wheel and introduced Christmas cards to America. Prang was in the lithography business. He had learned to produce high quality full color lithographs at a time when most printers would make black and white prints then add color by hand if needed. He found success printing cards and maps during the American Civil War. He also made prints of great works of art by painters including Winslow Homer, but his biggest hit came in 1875 as Prang found himself at the forefront of a new and heartwarming tradition—the Christmas card. 

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