History of the Christmas Card

Sending letters used to be a much more
difficult and expensive business than
it is now, but even so people have
always liked sending special -
occasion notes. They used to deliver
the notes themselves, or asked
travelling friends to take them.
A lot of time was spent decorating
expensive paper, andx making
up poems or greetings.
In the 19th century paper became cheaper,
so ladies with plenty of free time
painted notelets themselves.
Then printers in small workshops
thought out ways of engraving
pictures on to the cards,
still leaving space for the sender
to add their own rhymes and greetings.
These early printed cards always
carried messages about good deeds
and acts of charity at Christmas
such as "Feed the Hungry"
and "Give to the Poor."
The first proper Christmas cards
were printed in 1846, but they
were still quite expensive.
The sale of these cards was greatly
helped when a way of paying
for letter deliveries was invented.
Post boxes became a familiar sight
in towns and villages.
In 1880 the slogan "Post early
for Christmas" was used for
the first time. Nowadays,
December is the busiest time
of year for the postal services,
as they deliver millions of christmas
greetings to all parts of the world.