The Christmas card would not have come about but for one important innovation to Britain’s and subsequently the world’s postage systems. That innovation was the Universal Penny Post that liberalised sending letters to far off friends and relatives.
Before 1840 the cost of sending a letter through Britain’s postal system was expensive with rates based on the weight of the letter and the distance travelled. Rolland Hill and his penny postage changed all of that, from May 1840 a one ounce letter could travel anywhere in the British Isle for just a penny. Along with Roland Hill one of the main enthusiasts of the Universal Penny Post was Sir Henry Cole.
Sir Henry Cole and the First Christmas Card
Victorian businessman Sir Henry Cole sent the very first Christmas cards in 1843, just over three years after the successful introduction of the Penny Post and over 2,000 cards were made they were printed on stiff card, like a modern postcard and each one was hand painted. They were designed John Callcott Horsley and printed by the firm of Jobbins of Warwick Court London. The cards sold for one shilling each (1/-).
Initially the cards met some resistance but finally gained widespread acceptance as the practice gained popularity with many of the better off upper classes and as the middle classes followed the trend of sending and receiving seasonal cards. These early cards did not show winter views or scenes relating to Christmas but alluded to the coming spring and summer. Their illustrations were of bouquets or sprays of flowers or of fairies and other scenes to remind the recipient warmer weather just around the corner. The early Victorian cards were often formed in elaborate shapes also
Louise Prang printed the first American Christmas cards in 1875 whose product was soon overwhelmed by cheap imitations and he was driven out of the market.
From just over 2,000 cards sent in 1843 spawned not just an industry producing Christmas cards but one that has grown to unimagined proportions selling cards for all occasions and none.
Christmas Stamps
Of course it is not possible to send cards without postage stamps and the 1840 Penny Post allowed people to share the joy of Christmas by sending cards for just one penny or less.
There is some dispute as to the first Christmas stamp some claiming that it came from Canada in 1898 it showed a map of the world with the then British Empire in red, underneath the legend ‘Xmas 1898’ and others saying that this was not a Christmas stamp in the true sense that it was not issued specifically for Christmas but to celebrate the introduction of the Imperial Penny Postage. Whichever side is correct the world had to wait a long time before the next Christmas stamp which came from Austria in 1937.
Bethlehem
Cards can even be sent from Bethlehem, not the birthplace of Jesus, now in Israel but the small village of Bethlehem in West Wales, where the village post master will hand cancel the Christmas stamp with a special post mark. The envelope must have a UK postage stamp.
Contact:
The Post Office, Bethlehem, Carmarthen, Wales, United Kingdom
 |
 |
