Christmas cards past and present

If recent trends are a reliable indicator, we will buy fewer box sets of Christmas cards this year but more individual cards. Following recent increases in the cost of stamps and a growing aversion to

Christmas stamps, as featured on this year’s COUNTRY LIFE Advent calendar cover, are a cherished annual event– but how did they become one? Emma Hughes investigates

Sharan Sammi, 44, lives with her family in Wolverhampton. When a Christmas card plops through my letterbox, I think ‘Oh no! Where am I going to put this?’ From a decluttering point of view, Christmas

LET me state at the outset that I am not a nosy-parker, not a busybody and definitely not in the habit of opening other people’s post. But one December, it started. I found it on the hall mat with my

From cards to carols, celebrating the festive season when you’ve two lots of family traditions to bolt together isn’t easy…

HELLO, little one!” Penny Dauntless greeted a robin-redbreast, who cocked his head as she pushed along her trolley of post on the daily round. “How often is there such a perfect mid-December morning?”