Christmas celebrations and decorations have changed a lot over the centuries but it seems that our 'traditional' view of the season always comes back to something Dickensian. This probably has something to do with the fame and popularity of Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' and indeed the era was responsible for the emergence of many things we have come to expect of our Yuletide. Sir Henry Cole, public servant, art patron and founder of the Victoria and Albert Museum, sent the first Christmas card in 1843. This really caught on over the following years, continuing to be big business to this day. In 2002, an original Cole card set a new world record by selling for an incredible £22,350, but other fine Victorian cut out and moveable ones fetch much less, starting at the £40 mark. Edwardian cards still look very much the part but are much cheaper and sell for around £5 and cards signed by Princess Diana's own hand are worth anything from £400 to upwards of £1,500.

Going crackers was also a Victorian idea with a man named Tom Smith inventing the fun and frivolous packages in a bid to market and sell his confectionery company's sweets. Bursting onto the scene, the idea created a huge bang and saw other firms attempt similarly clever and new ways to cash in on Christmas and boost their profits.

Huntley and Palmer's opted to create attractive, decorative, novelty tins in which to sell their biscuits and original fine shaped tins from the first quarter of the 20th Century can sell for upwards of £100 these days.

No Christmas would be complete without a festive tree, a trend that is said to have been imported from Germany in 1800 by Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III. The queen was throwing a children's party and as a temporary fixture to create awe and excitement, decorated a yew tree with sweetmeats, toys and candles. But it wasn't until later in 1848 that Christmas trees became fashionable amongst the masses, thanks to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert who let the Illustrated London Mews produce an engraving of their tree. Of course, it would have been a pretty amazing feat for pine needles and wood from this age to have survived over so many years and made its way onto today's antiques market! But various antique Christmas tree decorations are still available for collectors to snap up, although their fragility means they're rather rare.

Decorations were hand-made in the 1800s, with things like crocheted snowflakes and paper stars and baskets containing sugared almonds being popular. Tinsel was ordered from Germany and silver wire ornaments, candles and strung beads also adorned the trees.

Various ornaments such as early glass baubles and 'Dresden' tree decorations, which are animals and figures made from pressed cardboard, are popular with today's collectors, as too are examples from the 1930s-1950s such as snow babies, Santas and pixies.

Remember that figures made from unglazed, tinted porcelain tend to be from an earlier period and are therefore more collectable than plaster models. Also keep your eyes peeled for Christmas tree lights from the 1930s-1950s, especially those that have a Disney influence or incorporate other novelty characters.

Whether you're after creating bygone times at Christmas or simply owning festive antiques and collectibles for the novelty factor they bring, something a bit different to the garish colors and neon lights of modern Yuletide can be a fantastic investment.

The First Christmas Card

As the Christmas cards begin to appear in the shops, spare a thought for a certain resident of Bath, Sir Henry Cole, who was credited with the creation of the first Christmas card.

Sir Henry’s invention came about, as many do, through necessity. The Penny Post had been launched six years before, in 1846, and like many Victorians Sir Henry was keen dispatcher of Christmas greetings to his friends. But as legend has it, on that year he’d forgotten to get his letter done so he had a batch of 1,000 single postcards printed up with a picture of Christmas guests toasting the card’s recipient. After Sir Henry had ticked the last name on his list, he sold the remaining cards in a shop in London at a shilling each – and thus was born a tradition that endured for over 100 years and today provides a fascinating source of collectibles.