Christmas is just around the corner and many people are sending Christmas cards to their friends and family to show that they are thinking about them. Here are five facts you probably didn´t know about Christmas cards:

1. Did you know that Christmas cards are an English innovation? The first Christmas card was commissioned by Henry Cole (civil servant with a great interest in art and design) in 1843. It was only printed in 1000 copies and very few are known to remain in existence today. They are very valuable today and one example was sold in December 2005 for £8,500 ($12,500).

2.  Did you know that it was President Eisenhower who issued the first official White House Christmas card back in 1953? Back in 1961, the White House was sending out 2,000 Christmas Cards. Today that number has risen to over 1.4 million cards.

3. Did you know that for every 3 holiday cards purchased and sent, one has a religious message?

4. Did you know that Christmas cards are by far the most popular of all the seasonal cards? Over 60% of greeting card sales annually can be attributed to the holiday season.

# Christmas 61%
# Valentine’s Day 25%
# Mother’s Day 4%
# Easter 3%
# Father’s Day 2.5%
# Other 4.5%

5. Did you know that ”Merry Christmas” is the greeting preferred by 53% of Americans? “Happy Holidays” is preferred by 21%  and only 12% like “Season’s Greetings”.