Despite what many may think Christmas Cards were not an invention of the Irish Post Office but it did help a lot that the Post Office existed and stamps cost as little as a penny in the 1840’s. Prior to that posting items was for the wealthy and business classes, and Christmas Cards did not exist – but the penny stamp made communication ( think of this as an early version of Smartphones or Whatsapp but it took a few days for your message to get the the recipient and another few days for the recipients response to arrive back to you – it was like having a verrrryyyy sloooowww phone connection!)- but that was then and it was the way of mass communication.
It actually was an English Post office staff member that was looking for ways to expand business in the 1800’s who first sent a Christmas Card to his friend – wondering if this would take off ( eh…think Facebooks first post and todays number of Facebook users!) Yes, its true, they did not have instagram, twitter or facebook in those wonder times of touch and feel letters and cards.
Over the years the printing industry saw the potential benefits of printing Christmas Greeting Cards and it became a win – win – win for the main businesses involved the Post Office, the Printing Industry and retail outlets. But more importantly it became a way of friends and family who were distant from each other as a way of taking time out to remember those they did not see too often and to let them know they were thinking about them at Christmas.
While it was technically illegal to include a letter with your Christmas Card – it was quite common to insert a short note about your family and how they were doing and asking about their family and this drove the growth of Christmas card sales right thought he 40’s, 50′, 60’s and 70’s.
Today it is a million euro business in Ireland alone …..and even with all the social media and technologies out there it is something very special about recivign a Christmas Card through the post from someone who is thinking of you.
Because Christmas cards are special – you can ensure it is extra special with a personalised Christmas Card with the recipients name in gold lettering – and you dont have to go online to plan this order – you can select from a range of cards from Local outlets throughout Ireland. View the namecards4u.com range of Personalised Cards here. They are availble at a location near you and will be printed in the retail outlet in less than a minute for you.
Why not this Christmas extra special for someone you care about with a personalised Christmas Card.
Check out last posting dates for Christmas here