Christmas Cards to Express Seasonal Greetings
Christmas Cards to Express Seasonal Greetings
In the United Kingdom the sending and exchange of Christmas cards can be traced back to the 1840s when Sir Henry Cole commissioned John Horsley to produce an illustration that was printed on to some two thousand cards. The image used caused some controversy as it did not reference anything related to the birth of Jesus but instead featured a family scene.
Many organisations now use Charity Christmas cards as way of raising funds for their good cause. UNICEF lead the way with this initiative when it started to release its own Christmas cards in 1949. The giving of charity cards for Christmas is popular with business leaders who can be seen to be altruistic at the time of year most associated with giving.
Handmade Christmas cards have become increasingly popular. In Victorian times cards were frequently hand made, very ornate and lavish but times and fashions change and the popularity of commercial cards grew. In recent years handmade cards of all kinds have enjoyed a renaissance with whole businesses now providing nothing but card making materials to the serious craft person.
Christmas card kits are available for those who would like to make their own greetings cards but either lack confidence or the artistic skills required. Such kits contain everything from a card blank to all the trimmings and an envelope in which the finished product may be sent.
Personalised Christmas cards are associated with the rich and famous. They will often feature a photograph of the family (think UK Royal family here) or another image that is relevant and personal to the sender.
The other thing worthy of note with personalised Christmas cards is the fact that these are also pre-printed inside which, whilst it is no doubt a time saver, does rather leave the recipient with the feeling that they were just one of hundreds on an anonymous list.
The sending of Christmas cards has also been used to give the annual update to friends and family with whom the sender is no longer in frequent touch. Love them or hate them, these round robin letters are cropping up with more frequency.
Some Christmas card designs have become collector’s items with collections being based on a design type, such as those featuring Christmas trees, or a particular printing method.
So, this year, as you sit down to write your Christmas cards remember, you are not only sending Christmas greetings, you are also maintaining a tradition and possibly even producing a collector’s item for the future.