A prerequisite for sending Christmas cards is that the postal service accepts and forwards postcards. This was not possible in Denmark until 1871, until then you could only send actual letters. Postcards, which were a new concept at that time, were an important prerequisite for the tradition of sending Christmas cards.
About 10 years later, in 1882, people could buy the first preprinted cards with Christmas greetings produced in Denmark. Furthermore, the Danish and Nordic Christmas card tradition is characterised by a somewhat humourous content, such as elves playing in snow, getting into trouble etc., whereas religious motifs are a bit more rare.

The world's first Christmas card
In England, Christmas cards have a somewhat longer history, as England's and - as far as we know - the world's first pre-printed Christmas card is exhibited at Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

The fact that it can be found at that location is very appropriate, as the museum had an important role in its creation. The card was drawn by John Callcott Horsley (1817-- 1903) and hand-coloured on request by Henry Cole, Victoria & Albert Museum's first curator. This first edition was of 1,000 copies.

The cards not used by Cole were subsequently sold in a local shop for 1 shilling a card. The motif of these first commercial Christmas cards is an English family at the Christmas party and have the writing "A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you".

In England, the arrival of the Christmas cards was also connected to changes in the rules for postal service. The cards were launched only 3 years after the postage stamp was invented. Thanks to "The Postal Act" from 1840, it had now become possible to send a greeting to anywhere in Great Britain for 1 penny. Before this, the prices were based on more complicated calculations.