Cards have been a part of our festive traditions for almost 200 years. That does not mean that they have always been the same though.
Indeed, Christmas cards have changed a lot over the years, as this blog will make clear.
The idea of sending cards to people at Christmas came from Sir Henry Cole. During 1843, he was involved in the creation of the Public Record Office, which became the Post Office.
Cole wanted to promote this service to the public and came up with the notion of festive cards as a way to achieve that. He recruited an artist called John Horsley to design the card, which featured images of a Christmas dinner and people helping the poor.
Cards started to gain in popularity later in the century, when methods of printing improved and postal costs came down. They achieved mass appeal by the start of the 20th century, and the designs became overtly Christian.
At this time, Nativity images were frequently used. However, the Victorian era also saw other designs become synonymous with Christmas cards. Snow and robins in particular became common trends.
All of these remain staples of card imagery, but they have been joined by pictures of trees festooned in fairy lights and Father Christmas. This started to happen during the latter half of the last century, perhaps reflecting the fact that Christmas these days is celebrated as a time for fun.
In 2024, people are as likely to send jokey cards as ones with austere images, which shows how things have changed.
