Where has this year gone to? In exactly 12 weeks time it will be Christmas again and I've only just gotten rid of the excess packaging from the last one, and I mean the wrapping paper not the excess packaging I put on personally. It's quite incredible but every year I do my charity bike ride around mid Septemvber and every year when I go it's still the end of summer but when I get back just typically 5 days later it is quite definitely autumn. It seems that the trees pick just those 5 days to shed all their leaves, amazing. I know everybody says it and I know the theorys that attempt to explain it but every year goes by quicker than the last one.
At the moment we have our Halloween / November the 5th slider active.
It won't be long now until I need to change this for a much more Christmassy one. The industry has changed so much in recent years with the number of companies sending physical Christmas cards declining every year in favour of eCards. The numbers though are still very impressive, the UK sends more cards per person than any other nation, an average of 33 each. Greeting cards are stocked in more retail outlets than any other product with one in six retailers offering them for sale.
The very first commercial Christmas card was invented in 1846 by Sir Henry Cole who was the chief organiser of the Great Exhibition, pioneer of the penny post and founder of the V&A Museum. One of his first Christmas cards that he sent to his grandmother recently sold at auction for £22,500, wow. His first card however was a bit controversial because it pictured several people holding glasses of wine thus associating the Holy Christmas and alchohol which many deemed offensive.
The greeting card industry is still worth £1.75 billion per year with Christmas cards accounting for over 60% of all cards sold so perhaps it's a bit early to be consigning them to the annuls of history just yet. Maybe the corporate Christmas card will make a comeback soon, I can only hope so.