Greeting Cards

Greeting Cards

If you need to say something but aren't quite sure how to word it, there's a greeting card. If you want to convey a feeling or invoke an emotion but don't know how to do it, there's a greeting card to help. Even if you do know what well-wishes you want to send, there's a greeting card to do it for you. For practically any occasion, or even for no reason at all (except to say "hi"), there is a greeting card.

Whether sent online in the form of an ecard, created at home from a printable card program, or bought at your local store, a greeting card will always tell someone that you are thinking about them and that you care. And who doesn't love getting a greeting card?

History of Giving Greeting Cards

• The history of greeting cards dates back to civilizations from over 500 years ago. Greeting cards started out as simple slips of papyrus that were exchanged by Chinese and Egyptian cultures as messages of fortune and goodwill.

  Notes on the history of greeting cards say the Europeans caught on to this new wave of social expression sometime in the 1400's. At that time, all of their greeting cards were hand-delivered! European greeting cards were extremely expensive so only the wealthy got to partake in their exchange. Greeting cards really hit the mainstream in the 1840 when the invention of the postage stamp allowed all people to send greeting cards. This process was aided by printers and manufacturers perfecting printing methods, hiring artists, and creating quality cards for both the elite and lower classes.

  According to Emotions Greeting Card Museum, the oldest known greeting card is a Valentine from the 1400's. Paper Valentines were given at this time in Europe in exchange of gifts, and were especially popular in England. In the early 1800's, Valentines became so popular that they started to be assembled in factories! The first ones were black and white only, but then came Esther Howland, the Mother of the Valentine. Howland made paper Valentines with lace, ribbons and colorful pictures and started a new era for the greeting cards. By the end of the 1800's, however, Valentines were being made entirely by machine.

Why Send Greeting Cards?

• You don't really need a reason to send a greeting card, that's the beauty of it. Many people keep collections of greeting cards just to arm themselves properly in case a deserving situation arises. Greeting card collecting is actually quite popular.

  For all those who just shop by occasion however, here are the most popular reasons to send greeting cards:

  1. Birthday: let someone know you're thinking about them as they turn another year older and another year wiser by sending a printable birthday card!
  2. Anniversary: Congratulate the happy couple on their strong partnership with a lovely anniversary card!
  3. Holidays: The most popular holiday greeting card is arguably the Christmas card, but a very close second is the Valentine's Day card. Other popular holiday sentiments to send are Easter cards, Mother's Day cards, Father's Day cards and Thanksgiving cards.
  4. Wedding/Engagement: Wish the happy couple a lifetime of happiness with a beautiful wedding ecard or printable wedding congratulations card.
  5. Baby Shower: Often versed with poems and quotes, baby shower greeting cards are increasingly popular and sometimes saved as memorabilia.
  6. Thank You: It's always a nice gesture to say thanks with a professionally crafted thank you greeting card and a nice note inside!
  7. Just Because (to say "hi"): Break up a friend's day with a Just Because ecard or give someone a break from the bills in the mail with a greeting card that simply says, Hello!
  8. For Laughs: Bad with jokes? Let a funny ecard card crack one for you!
  9. Graduation: Usually accompanied by a gift or money, graduation greeting cards are a tradition.
  10. Congratulations: For any milestone event, a congratulation ecard serves as a nice keepsake.

Talking Greeting Cards

• One of the most recent advancements in the social expression industry is the talking greeting card – what a cool idea! Talking greeting cards work in a couple of ways – some of them actually have voices recorded in the card already that blurt out the message when the card is opened. Some of them allow you to record your own voice and message, and then others are talking ecards that are pre-recorded and funny in their own right.

  Talking ecards are a fun alternative to the traditional greeting card because they use sound to invoke feeling (usually laughter!) as opposed to just words.