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The Victorian age is a golden period of United Kingdom under the rule of Queen Victoria from 1837-1901. This period had many changes; some of them were very helpful while other were damaging. Queen Victoria's reign was a staring point in the history of the British Empire because during this time large overseas profits were earned, industries and homes were enhanced and a large educated middle class developed.

During the Victorian Era Christmas was celebrated with great enthusiasm and zeal. The custom sending of greeting cards at Christmas was started by Victorians. The first Victorian Christmas card was designed at the request of Sir Henry Cole in 1843. Cole suggested the idea of creating a special greeting to be sent to friends and relatives at the time of Christmas. About a 1,000 Christmas cards were printed in 1843 under Sir Henry Cole's nom de guerre or "Felix Summerly".

The custom of sending Christmas cards became fairly popular in the 19th century and even Queen Victoria herself sent thousands of cards at Christmas to family and friends. However, by the middle of Victorian era, the cards started to vary in shape, design and material. General emotions on cards included religious thoughts, bad jokes as well as other sentimental verses.

The panels enclosing the card design had figures depicting acts of charity such as "feeding the poor" and "clothing the naked". Most of the Christmas cards had fancy silk fringe, lace, satin, feathers, sachets, tinsel, fold-outs and other stuff to attract the attention of the people who received the cards. Innovative cards were also very popular during Victorian epoch, chiefly those that worked automatically or played a trick.

The Victorian love for nature was displayed on the cards and many of them depicted wonderful pictures of summer or spring. Some of the cards also had pictures of elegant birds along with their nests and eggs. Flowers, butterflies and insects were also created on the early Christmas cards. These images were particularly made to remind people of the fact, that winter will go away and the bright, sunny days will come soon.

So, now you know how and why the tradition of giving Christmas card was stared and is still popularly followed till date.