The History of Greetings Cards
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Many people think of greetings cards as a relatively modern invention; however they have been around for thousands of years. The Chinese sent greetings for New Year and the Egyptians sent greetings to each other for many special occasions. Of course their greetings were written on papyrus not card, but they were the people to first send greetings in writing to their friends and families.
It was not until the 1400s that Europeans started sending each other greetings in writing. Again these greetings were not on card, rather on paper, however they were folded and had a picture on the outside with the greeting on the inside.
In Germany they sent cards which were made using woodcut prints. In other countries it was Valentine cards that were being sent and most of these were being handmade by the person sending the card. Advances in printing during the mid 1800s made the mass production of greetings cards possible, which is when they began to be sent for things like birthdays.
Modern Greetings Cards
Modern greetings cards began to be made in the 1860s and to be distributed throughout the country. Some of the earliest producers like Marcus Ward & Co had been involved in printing for many years and only branched into producing greeting cards and calendars at a later date.
In the 1930’s colour lithography made the mass production of colour cards possible and that is when the sending of cards really took off. In the 1940s humorous cards gave another boost to the industry. The sale of greetings cards peaked in the 1990s in many European countries when sales stagnated and began to tail off in the 2000s. There are various reasons for this, but the custom of sending cards is not going to die out any time soon.
Online Greetings Cards
The latest greetings cards were slow to take off, but now they are slowly taking over. They are of course online cards. The convenience of browsing for a card online and the fact that you can personalise the cards you send are part of the attraction. |
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Author Resource:-
Scribbler sells a great range of greetings cards both online and in their shops. They have a policy of using new and young designers, so always have something new to offer.
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By :
Gareth Hoyle
Submitted
2011-11-11 09:56:37 |
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