It would not be Christmas without the sending and receiving of Christmas cards.  The average person in Britain sends 50 cards each year.

The introduction of the penny post in 1840 made it easy for people to send written Christmas greetings to their friends and family. In 1843 the first Christmas Cards were sent.  The cards were commissioned by a wealthily business man called Sir Henry Cole who wanted a card suitable to send to profession acquaintances and friends.  These cards featured an illustration by John Callcott Horsley, the picture of a family with a small child drinking wine together, proved controversial but the idea was shrewd: Cole had helped introduce the penny post three years earlier. A batch of 1000 cards was printed and sold for a shilling each.

By 1860 it had become popular to send Christmas Cards especially when a card in an unsealed envelope could be sent for a half penny instead of a penny for a letter in a sealed envelope.