In the early 1840's, Sir Henry Cole realised that he was going to be too late to send his usual greetings letters to all his friends and relatives for Christmas.
He had an idea and called on an artist friend, John Calcott Horsely for his help. Sir Henry asked if he was able to hand colour and engrave a thousand cards for him with a seasonal message which could then be sent to everyone.
And so the first modern Christmas card was born. It depicted a young boy with a red scarf and the greeting 'Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year'. Sir Henry was delighted with the result. He even sold the left over cards in Old Bond Street for a shilling each!
With the help of the penny post, which had been introduced in England a few years earlier, the practice couldn't help but catch on and grow.
By the 1860's, everyone could afford cards, with the help of cheaper colour printing, and they began to sell in their thousands, creating a new industry for artists and printers.
In the 1880's the greeting card market was growing by 10% per year. Small publishing houses were establishing themselves and specialist card shops, also selling giftwrap and associated gifts were springing up on nearly every high street and shopping mall.
By the 1900's the Post Office was having to handle an extra 11.5 million letters in Christmas week alone.
Last year over 2 billion cards were sold in the UK, where more cards per head are sent than any other nation. The UK continues as a world leader in this area, as well as leading the world in the region of greeting card design.
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