Greeting cards are also used for birthdays, Christmas, personalized, New Year, thank you and many more.
Did you know that every time you send greeting cards you are continuing a centuries-old tradition that dates back to the ancient Chinese? Written cards were also exchanged by the ancient Egyptians on papyrus scrolls! They became a tradition in European cultures as early as the 1400s, when they were handmade, printed on paper, with woodcuts or illustrated by hand and exchanged.
These early cards were not accessible to the masses the way they are today.
Not only could most people not read or write, but the hand-decorated, handmade cards were too expensive for even literate commoners.
Mass produced cards, like we see today, were introduced in the late 1800s, when stationery companies hired popular artists of the day to design and illustrate their cards.
It is almost a requirement today to send them out for birthdays, Xmas, New Year, Mothers and Fathers Day, Valentine, corporate, thank you, personalized, etc.
You can find cards,printed or handmade, for almost any occasion.
With this historical background they have now become recognized in the world of antiques and collectibles as being very collectible items.
Choosing a card for a special occasion can be, for some, a challenging experience.
The picture, the wording and the size can determine the card chosen.
Photographic technology has made handmade greeting cards a popular alternative to mass produced cards, especially when the occasion is very special.
Today they are a unique travelers gift.
Light and easy to pack they take up minimum room in bags.
They can be kept as a life time memento of a fantastic trip or holiday.
Or they can be sent to family, friends and colleagues to show them some of the sites and scenes visited.
Or as a gift given with thought, that can be sent framed or kept.
Even though greeting cards have been available for hundreds of years, there has never before been such a wide choice of cards available as there is today.