Editing Cardmaking (section)

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

By the early 15th century, 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-15th century.

However, by the 1850s, the greeting card had been transformed from a relatively expensive, handmade and hand-delivered gift to a popular and affordable means of personal communication, due largely to advances in printing and mechanization.

This trend continued, followed by new trends like [[Christmas card]]s, the first of which appeared in published form in London in 1843 when Sir [[Henry Cole (inventor)|Henry Cole]] hired artist [[John Calcott Horsley]] to design a holiday card that he could send to his friends and acquaintances. Technical developments like color [[lithography]] in 1930 propelled the manufactured greeting card industry forward.

During the 1980s, the trend began to turn, with consumers increasing looking for greeting cards that were differentiated from the standard offering. In the late 1990s, [[e-card]]s made their way into the market.