Site under construction
throughout 2010

Please bear with us...
Re-visit regularly to check new additions!

 

We're not just about cheap abuse - read here about our

We offer PayPal to purchase cards. To check your order at any time click

GREETING CARDS:

A greeting card is a folded, illustrated card bearing a message of friendship or similar sentiment. Greeting cards are often given on special occasions, like birthdays, Christmas and other holidays. They might also be sent to express thanks or convey other feeling. Greeting cards are usually supplied with an envelope, and come in a variety of styles. There are mass-produced cards as well as handmade versions. They are distributed by many different companies, although a tiny number dominate the market. While usually inexpensive, more intricate cards with die-cuts or glued-on decorations may cost up to US $5 - $10 each (£5 - £10).

Hallmark Cards and American Greetings are easily the largest manufacturers of greeting cards in the whole world. Recycled Paper Greetings were the first producers to print their cards on recycled paper, a practice that has much more common today. In the United Kingdom, it is calculated that one billion pounds (GBP) are spent on greeting cards every year, with the average person actually sending 55 cards per year!

In western countries, and also now in other societies, people traditionally post seasonally themed cards (eg Christmas) to their relatives and friends in December. Many service businesses also send greetings cards to their customers in this season - usually with an acceptable non-religious message such as 'seasons's greetings' or 'happy holidays'.

The Greeting Card Association is an international trade organization which represents stationery and greeting card manufacturers. John Beeder, former president of the Greeting Card Association, says greeting cards are very effective products to communicate significant feelings to people that matter to you care: "Anyone feels great when they receive an unexpected card in the mail. For me, there’s nothing like a greeting card to send a special message. I’m proud to be a part of an industry that not only keeps people connected, but uses both imagery and the power of words to help us express our emotions.”

TYPES OF GREETING CARDS:

Standard Greeting Cards: A typical greeting card is printed on a (usually) rectangular piece of high-quality paper (known as card stock), and is then folded to show a decorative motif or picture on the front. Inside is a printed message that is appropriate for the occasion, usually with a blank space for the sender to add a handwritten message or signature. A matching envelope is provided with the greeting card. Some cards and envelopes feature decorative materials such as glitter ribbons or gold leaf.

Musical Greeting Cards: In recent years, greeting cards have been developed that play music or sound when they are opened. They often are birthday cards or similar with a small mechanical insert which plays traditional celebration songs such as 'Happy Birthday To You'.

Photo Greeting Cards: Recently, photo greeting cards have gained in popularity and these come in two types.
The first type are photo insert cards in which a hole in the center enables a photograph to be slid in, similar to a frame.
The second type are printed photo cards in which the photograph is combined with exisitng artwork and printed, onto the face of the card. Usually this type of greeting card is printed on a high-end digital press to give flexibility to the process - a service that has been pioneered online in the UK by Moonpig.
Both of these types are popular for sending holiday greetings such as Hanukkah, Christmas, or for birthdays.

Electronic Greeting Cards: (also called E-cards) Greeting cards can also be sent electronically. Flash-based cards, or even attachements featuring jpeg or png files, can be sent by email. Also, many sites such as Facebook enable people to send greetings. More recently, websites have launched which enable customers to send text message greetings to a mobile phone. Many of these electronic businesses, eg ValenTXT, supply open or anonymous chat, to enable further exchanges.

Printed messages and pictures in greeting cards come in varied styles, from humorous to fine art to profane.
Non-specific cards, that is, unrelated to any occasion, may feature a picture (or a pocket to insert a personal photograph) but no preprinted message.

THE HISTORY OF GREETING CARDS:

Sending greeting cards is a custom that can be traced back to the ancient Chinese - they sent messages of goodwill to celebrate the New Year. Also to the early Egyptians, who sent their greetings on papyrus scrolls. By the early 15th century handmade paper greeting cards were being swapped in Europe. History says the Germans are believed to have produced New Year's greetings from woodcuts as early as 1400. Handmade paper Valentines Cards were being sent in parts of Europe in the early 1400s. The British Museum holds the oldest Valentine in existence.

The greeting card had been improved by the 1850s. Originally a quite expensive, hand-delivered and handmade gift. Later, an affordable and popular method of personal communication. This transformation resulted largely from advances in mechanization and printing.

Then there were new trends like Christmas cards! The first Christmas card appeared in published form in 1843 in London when artist John Calcott Horsley was commissioned by Sir Henry Cole to design a holiday card that he could send to his acquaintances and friends. In the 1860s, companies like Charles Bennett, Goodall and Marcus Ward & Co began the mass production of greeting cards. They used well known artists such as Walter Crane and Kate Greenaway as card designers and illustrators.

Technical developments in 1930 such as color lithography improved the product of the manufactured greeting card industry. Humorous greeting cards, originally known as studio cards, became widespread in the late 1940s and 1950s.

A small company called Recycled Paper Greetings began publishing '"whimsical' card designs in the 1970s with the name of the artist credited on the back. They needed to compete against the large, established companies like Hallmark Cards, This was different from what was known as the conventional look. There was a thriving market by the 1980s for what were then 'alternative' greeting cards - a name that continued even though these 'alternative' cards took over the entire greetings card industry.

The UK online greeting card business Moonpig once despatched 99,000 cards on one single day!

The largest number of greeting cards sent to a single person is recorded as having been those sent to Craig Shergold, an early victim/beneficiary of an internet chain mail.

Postcards, which are unfolded card printed on just one side, can be used in the same way as greeting cards. Postcards were produced early in the history of the postal service, that being a cheaper way of sending greetings. These were particularly popular, especially from tourist destinations.