Finding himself too busy to write letters in 1843, civil servant Sir Henry Cole is said to have asked an artist to create a card that he could post instead. He had a thousand engraved and sent half to his friends and sold the remaining in a shop where they gained popularity.

He is thought to have been the first person to send a commercial Christmas card but 180 years later are people still sending festive greetings or is the Victorian tradition dying out? Alex Langrdige reports

Growing up I remember my family’s Christmas card holder overflowing with the number of cards we had received.

But each year it becomes harder to fill as fewer and fewer come through the letter box.

We have also started posting fewer and instead have been hand-delivering the odd one and mainly to other family members.

I have heard from friends and colleagues they have cut back on the number they are sending out with others stopping altogether yet shops are still stocking hundreds of cards and putting out stock months in advance.

The owner of Deb’s Cards, in Gravesend, Jason Brown said he has even sold out of designs and had to restock a number of times.

“I cannot keep the stock full enough,” he added. “We get our usual amount of singular and box cards but we have had to re-order as they sold out.”

Jason opened the storefront in the St George’s Shopping Centre two years ago following a successful year with a stall at the Gravesend Borough Market.

He added: “The last few years have been reasonably quiet since lockdown but this year I have seen a rise in sales.

“It has been really busy and people have been coming up to the counter with massive piles for every single relation.

“I could not be happier. The people of Gravesend are great, they like sending cards, they like my cards, it has been really good.”

Jason, who also runs a market stall in Chelmsford, Essex, thinks people will always want to buy cards but worries the increasing cost of stamps could put people off.

The price of a first-class stamp went up by 15p from the beginning of October - the third increase in 18 months – taking the cost from £1.10 to £1.25.

In 2019, it was just 70p.

The charge to send a large letter via first class went up by 35p to £1.95 and for the second-class post, it rose by 40p to £1.55.

Royal Mail has said the changes were needed as it responds to growing cost pressures and a “challenging economic environment”.

Issues with the postal service, including the strikes last year, are one reason the owner of Gem Cards, in Strood, Diana Scott thinks her Christmas card sales are declining.

She said customers cannot be sure if what they post will arrive on time which puts them off sending anything altogether.

The shopkeeper added: “People are still buying cards but I do not think they are putting them through the post. I think they are giving them to people as they see them.

“I also think the younger generation are now texting and using social media instead of sending cards.”

Diana, who has owned the unit in Angel Corner, along the High Street, for 12 years, said she has seen Christmas sales fall by around 20% over the last six or seven years.

She said the festive season makes up a quarter of her yearly sales so to balance out the losses on cards she has started stocking a wider gift range.

“I will not stop selling them but we are reducing our order value from suppliers,” Diana added. “It has been a progressive change but I do not think it will ever die.

“I love the industry but it is a shame that it is not what it is. But we are still here, we are still enjoying it, so onwards and upwards.

“We have tweaked a few things with regards to stocking different products, such as more gift ranges, just to increase sales.”

Despite this, Diana said when people do come to buy cards she finds some will spend £30 to £40 at a time but will pick up singular cards more than a box of them.

She added: “People can pick up packets or boxes at supermarkets and everywhere else so we need to offer something different.”

And not everyone has stopped, Gravesend couple David and Diana Hawkins said they have posted just under 30 cards to friends and families this year.

David added: “We are still sending them but not as many as we used to because of the price of postage.

“I think it is a nice way to stay in touch with people. We will still keep doing it as it is not the same posting it online and not everyone uses the internet either.”

Mrs Greener is another who does the same. She said: “I have always sent cards through the post and I will keep doing so. I think it is nice and is a way to keep in touch with people.

“I have been doing it all my life and I will not stop now.”