Overview
- Henry Cole originated the tradition in December 1843 by commissioning artist John Callcott Horsley and ordering 1,000 cards printed on December 16.
- Cole sold unused copies for one shilling under the pseudonym Felix Summerly, with early uptake among the wealthy before costs fell and the practice went mass‑market in the 1860s.
- The inaugural card showed a family celebrating with flanking scenes of charity and carried the message, “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you.”
- Historians note the card appeared the same year as Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, helping pivot Christmas in Britain toward a domestic, sentimental celebration.
- Postal data report more than one billion cards sent in the UK and US in 2024 and over $20 billion in annual industry revenue, while 2025 coverage highlights AI tools such as Gemini for creating modern cards.