Christmas through the Post

The Postal Museum is delighted to present this festive exhibition exploring the practice of sending post at Christmas time. Christmas has been celebrated through the post for 170 years. The posting of cards is now synonymous with Christmas and the post itself is an ever-present theme within Christmas cards and stamps. ‘Christmas through the Post’ is explored through the themes of Victorian Christmas cards, Post Early for Christmas, and the birth of Christmas stamps.

In the Victorian era it was traditional to wish family and friends seasonal greetings, through a series of personal visits, or perhaps through writing a letter. With the adoption of the universal penny post system in 1840 this custom became easier to do by post. Prior to postal reform, recipients would have paid to receive mail. As well as the distance travelled, the cost was dependent on the number of sheets used or enclosures; ‘cross written letters’- a handwritten letter which contains two separate sets of writing, one written over the other, were therefore the most cost effective way of sending mail. The introduction of the universal penny post, where all mail was paid for by the sender, and cost only one penny, laid the foundation for the affordability and popularity of sending Christmas cards. It also became increasingly fashionable to celebrate Christmas at this time, with many of the practices that we enjoy today adopted. Along with Christmas trees and Christmas crackers, Christmas cards became increasingly popular - with their colourful designs enabled by innovations in printing techniques.

The first known Christmas card was commissioned by Henry Cole in 1843, the same year as Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, was published. Henry Cole’s card was first and foremost a personal greetings card, with the surplus sold in his shop: Felix Summerly’s Home Treasury, Old Bond Street, London.





It was some years later that cards began to be manufactured specifically to be sold in large quantities. They were initially produced by companies as a side-line to other items they were already manufacturing, such as playing cards, and slowly grew in popularity. Charles Goodall and Co., of Camden Town, has been credited as being the first to manufacture Christmas cards to sell, in 1862.

The earliest Christmas cards were printed on one-side only and were the size of a typical calling card. Many were printed in monochrome or sepia and were hand coloured. As printing processes improved, Victorian cards used a surprisingly wide range of imagery including naturalistic and pagan yuletide symbols such as holly and ivy, lambs, and images of the coming of spring. Numerous shapes of cards were produced, and many cards were richly embellished with colourful scraps of paper, ribbon or even glass ‘frosting’. Cards with Christian themes occupied only a small segment of the Christmas card market. The depiction of the postal service on Christmas cards also became very prevalent - with letter boxes and postmen frequently appearing.

In 1843, the year of Cole’s Christmas card, just 1000 Christmas cards were made. The sending of Christmas cards grew throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In 2005, for example, Royal Mail delivered a staggering 744 million Christmas cards.

By 1881 the sending of Christmas mail had increased in popularity. The General Post Office (GPO) recognised the need to manage the volume of Christmas mail and decided to involve the public in solving this problem. In 1881 the GPO first encouraged the public to ‘Post Early’.



Early posting of Christmas cards eased the build-up and pressure on postal staff over the busiest period of the year. From the 1890s onwards notices advising early posting could be seen affixed to letter boxes.

Advising the public to post early was further developed within a GPO publicity poster campaign that was first introduced in 1933, by the newly established GPO Public Relations Department and its director Stephen Tallents. The department generated large volumes of fantastic artwork by pioneering and eminent artists and graphic designers and saw the GPO become a leader in the field of poster design. The prolific artwork generated during this period now resides in the BPMA collection.





The drive to encourage the public to post early has since become the longest running campaign by Royal Mail.

The idea of having special stamps issued for Christmas was brought in by the Postmaster General, Tony Benn, in 1966. Benn initiated a competition for children to design the first Christmas stamps. The very first designs were 'King Wenceslas', by Tasveer Shemza, aged six, and 'Snowman,' by James Berry, aged six.



Following the first Christmas stamps in 1966, special Christmas stamps have continued to be issued every year - with designs of either a religious or a secular nature (largely alternating between the two). All stamp designs need the approval of the Queen and Christmas stamps are no exception.

2013 is only the third occasion in Royal Mail’s history that children have designed the Christmas stamps. Following the inaugural 1966 competition, the only other stamps designed by children were issued in 1981- until now.

This year Royal Mail received over 240,000 entries to the Christmas stamp design competition. Tasveer Shemza, the 1966 winner, was on the judging panel. The winning first class stamp was created by Molly Robson, aged seven, and entitled ‘Santa’. The winning second class stamp design was by Rosie Hargreaves, ten, entitled 'Singing Angels'. The two winners also had postmarks including their names used throughout Britain for a week each.



It has been estimated that a staggering 17 billion Christmas stamps have been printed in Britain since they were first issued in 1966. They continue to be the most popular stamp sets bought throughout the year.