Do you enjoy giving or receiving Christmas cards in December?
Traditional Christmas cards began with an illustration by J.C. Horsley in 1843 depicting a group of people making merry, which he printed for all his colleagues and was first put on sale in 1846. They were lithographed and hand coloured thereby forcing the cost to a shilling each. So the idea of children hand making Christmas cards caught on instead of buying them, which many still do.
Then came two breakthroughs. One was The development of colour printing by George Baxter and his followers in the 1850s and 1860s.
The other was the introduction of the Penny-Post. Before then it was the recipient who bore the cost, which not surprisingly was a deterrent to sending messages of good wishes at Christmas. Postmen wore red, considered a regal colour, with links to the Royal family and the British flag. The early postmen were nicknamed "robins" because their coats were the same colour as the robin redbreast. At Christmas time, householders would eagerly wait for the postman or "robin" as he brought their greeting cards from loved ones, and Christmas cards began to carry illustrations of the cheerful postman, resplendent in his red jacket, delivering cards or an actual robin, carrying Christmas cards in its beak, as a new card design.
Do you enjoy giving or receiving cards in December to remind others of God’s love and your care? Pop yours into the postbox ✉️ and Postman Nat will deliver them. You can use ChurchSuite for a reminder of names or request a printed copy of regular attenders. ... See more
