Island Life Magazine Ltd December/January 2018 | Page 49

Notebook
Seasonal Greetings
In an age of email, texting
and social media, and with
personal hand-written
letters becoming a thing
of the past, it’s amazing
that the traditional
Christmas card is not only
surviving - but positively
thriving.
In fact, according to the latest
report from the UK’s Greeting Cards
Association, nearly 100 million
Christmas single cards were sold
last year, as well as a further 900
million in boxes and packs – a total
spend of around £230m.
That’s not even counting the
millions of cards we bought from
online operators, such as Moonpig.
It seems that no other country
has such a tradition of sending
cards as we do in the UK. We
certainly buy more per head of
the population, and seem to love
displaying them in the home as
part of our Christmas décor.
Glitter-strewn cards have enjoyed
a big revival in recent years, and by
far the most popular sellers feature
traditional snowy landscapes
(despite the fact that white
Christmases these days are an
exception rather than the rule) and
Britain’s favourite bird, the Robin.
The first Christmas card was
created back in 1843 – mainly as a
way of encouraging people to use
the early postal service – by penny
post pioneer Sir Henry Cole, and
artist John Horsley.
Cards then cost a shilling
(equivalent to almost £5.75 now)
and stamps a penny (about 40p
in modern currency). Fortunately,
advances in printing gradually
brought prices down, making
cards hugely popular by the
1860s, and by 1900 the custom
had spread right across Europe.
It’s a custom we seem reluctant
to let go of, as recent One Poll
research found that 75% of
people would prefer to receive
a traditional Christmas card and
only 9% an e-greeting or social
media message.
It also found that 68% of people
plan to send the same number
of cards as last year, and 10% will
send more. On average, we send
16 cards each, and charities benefit
to the tune of around £50m from
sales of their own cards.
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