A prominent educator and patron of the arts, Henry Cole had the ingenious idea of the first Christmas card. He approached an artist friend, J.C. Horsley, and asked him to design an idea that Cole had sketched out in his mind. Cole then took Horsley's illustration showing a family at table celebrating the holiday flanked by images of people helping the poor and had a thousand copies made by a London printer. The image was printed on a piece of stiff cardboard 5 1/8 x 3 1/4 inches in size. At the top of each was the salutation, "TO:_____" allowing Cole to personalize his responses, which included the generic greeting "A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year To You." It was the first Christmas card.