Culture of The United Kingdom - Greeting Cards

Greeting Cards

The sending and receiving of greeting cards is an established tradition in the UK, with card sending or card display in the home being an important part of British culture. Sending Valentine's Day cards became hugely popular in Britain in the late 18th century, a practice that has since spread to other nations. Today in the UK just under half the population spend money on their Valentines. Following Sir Rowland Hill's postal reforms in the 1830s, the reduction in postal rates with the invention of the postage stamp (Penny Black) made sending greeting cards an affordable means of personal communication. Invented by Sir Henry Cole in 1843, the Christmas card accounts for almost half of the volume of greeting card sales in the UK, with over 600 million cards sold annually. Other popular occasions for sending greeting cards in the UK are Birthdays, Mother’s Day, Easter and Father’s Day.