Cheers! Or not: 'Scandalous' 1st Christmas card up for sale

An image of the first commercially produced Christmas card dated December 1843. The card, a hand-coloured lithograph designed in England by John Callcott Horsley, is among the rare holiday-themed items being sold online this weekend through a consortium run by Marvin Getman, a Boston-based dealer in rare books and manuscripts. Photo: AP

The first commercially printed Christmas card is up for sale - a merry Victorian-era scene that scandalised some who denounced it as humbug when it first appeared in 1843.

The card, being sold online through a consortium run by Marvin Getman, a Boston-based dealer in rare books and manuscripts, depicts an English family toasting the recipient with glasses of red wine.