Greeting Cards How to Save Time and Money the Fun Way

History of the Greeting Card!

The custom of sending greeting cards can be traced back to the ancient Chinese, who exchanged messages of good will to celebrate the New Year, and to the early Egyptians, who conveyed their greetings on papyrus scrolls.

By the early 1400's handmade paper greeting cards were being exchanged in Europe. The Germans are known to have printed New Year's greetings from woodcuts as early as 1400 and handmade paper Valentines were being exchanged in various parts of Europe in the early to mid-1400.

By the 1850's the greeting card had been transformed from a relative expensive, hand made and hand delivered gift to a popular and affordable means of personal communication, due largely to advances in printing and mechanization, as well as the 1840 introduction of the postage stamp.

Technical developments like color lithography in 1930 propelled the manufactured greeting card industry forward. Humorous greeting cards, known as studio cards, became popular in the late 1940s and 1950s.

By the late 1980s, there was a thriving market for what were called alternative greeting cards, and the name stuck even though these alternative cards changed the entire industry. The trend was away from what was known as the standard look(sometimes called the Hallmark look).

The American Greeting Card.

A fellow named Louis Prang, a German immigrant who started a small lithograph business near Boston in 1856, is generally credited with the start of the greeting card industry in America.

Within ten years of founding his firm, he had perfected the color lithographic process to a point where his reproductions of great paintings surpassed those of other graphic arts craftsmen in both the U.S. and Great Britain. In the early 1870s, Prang began publishing deluxe editions of Christmas cards, which found a ready market in England. In 1875, he introduced the first complete line of Christmas cards to the American public.

Staying connected with Greeting Cards,

Connecting with friends and family can occur because of a sense of obligation to recognize important life events or it can simply result from an impulsive desire to reach out. Sometimes one person connecting with another will set off a boomerang effect of reaching out.

In today's fast paced lifestyles often leaves little time for enriching peoples lives. But carving out the time to reach out to loved ones and strengthen our personal connections helps to boost our emotional well-being. Connecting with friends and family doesn't have to take a lot of effort and it is often the simple, small gestures that has the most impact when it comes to showing someone how much you care.

Sixty-two percent of people feels inspired to send someone a card if they receive one from that person.

Sending a greeting card is one of those simple gestures that reminds people someone is thinking about them. Making someone else feel special can also have the effect of making the sender feel good also. With all of the stress in people's lives today, that small oasis of contentment is something we need now more than ever.

A survey by the Greeting Card Association found that almost nine out of ten Americans believe they are as close or closer to their friends and family than they were one year ago, and 66 percent of Americans are regularly reaching out to their immediate family for love and support.

Basically there are two types of greeting cards.

Photo Greeting Cards, in recent years, have gained wide-spread popularity and comes in two main types. The first types are photo inserts in which a hole has been cut in the center. Your photo slides in just like a frame. The second types are printed photo cards in which the photo is combines with artwork and printed, usually on a high-end digital press, directly onto the face of the card. Both types are most popular for sending holiday greetings such as Christmas, Hanukkah & for baby showers.

Standard Greeting Cards. A standard greeting card is printed on high-quality paper and is rectangular and folded, with a picture or decorative motif on the front. Inside is a preprinted message appropriate to the occasion, along with blank space for the sender to add a signature or handwritten message. In the last few years the ability to personalize your card has reached the point where you can actually upload a personal picture from your hard drive of you computer.

Some interesting facts:

* The Average American sends 10 greeting cards a year, but has the need for 70

* U.S. consumers purchase approximately 7 billion greeting cards each year

* More than 90% of all U.S. households buy greeting cards

* Women purchase more than 80% of all greeting cards

* 9 out of 10 people say they look forward to receiving personal greeting cards

Most popular Seasonal Cards:

* Christmas 60%
* Valentines Day 25%
* Mother's Day 4%
* Easter 3%
* Father's Day 3%

I hope you found this article somewhat interesting. I enjoyed doing it and have plans for others in the future.

Have A Great Day

A greeting card in the mail box not only brightens our day, but can instantly connect us emotionally to friends and family. At sendoutcards there are many benefits why a person will want to send cards.

* Never have to leave Home to send a card
* You have 13,000 cards to choose from
* You can upload a personal picture from your hard drive
* The cost is about 1/3 of our competitors
* Save Time And Money
* You have an option of sending gift cards
* You have a choice of special gifts to choose from

I have set aside 2 FREE cards with stamps so you can test drive our system.

These are not e-cards

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If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me.