Paper Matters

CLD customers contribute to the 750 million Christmas cards delivered in the UK annually (note, Royal Mail advises cards to be sent by December 21st to reach their destination by Christmas. Perhaps we should pop them in the post a few days earlier this year).

"The first commercial Christmas cards were commissioned by Sir Henry Cole in London, 1843, and featured an illustration by John Callcott Horsley.

The picture, of a family with a small child drinking wine together, proved controversial, but the idea was shrewd: Cole had helped introduce the Penny Post three years earlier. Two batches totaling 2050 cards were printed and sold that year for a shilling each."

Source: Wikipedia