Editing Greeting card (section)

==History==
[[File:Greeting_Card_Get_Well_1949.jpg|right|thumb|alt=Text "How's the Convalescent?" above a girl sitting in a chair|A get well card from 1949]]
The custom of sending greeting cards can be traced back to the [[ancient China|ancient Chinese]] who exchanged messages of good will to celebrate
the [[Chinese New Year|New Year]], and to the early [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptians]], who conveyed their greetings on [[papyrus]] scrolls.<ref name="Souvenirs, Gifts, & Novelties">{{cite journal |title=The History of Greeting Cards. |journal=Souvenirs, Gifts, & Novelties |date=October 2011 |volume=50 |issue=7 |pages=254–255}}</ref> 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, with the oldest Valentine in existence being in the [[British Museum]].<ref name="Souvenirs, Gifts, & Novelties" /><ref>{{cite book|title=Greetings With Love: The Book of Valentines|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aaOhxEsNZYEC&q=oldest+Valentine+in+existence+being+in+the+British+Museum&pg=PA19|pages=19|author=Michele Karl|date=January 2003|publisher=Pelican Publishing|isbn=978-1-56554-993-7}}</ref> The card was written to [[Bonne of Armagnac]] by her husband, [[Charles, Duke of Orléans|Charles Duke of Orleans]], who was imprisoned in the [[Tower of London]] at the time. Not surprisingly, its message is rather downbeat. Its opening reads: ‘I am already sick of love / my very gentle Valentine.’<ref>{{Cite web|title=Greeting Cards - History, Origins & Uses|url=https://lemonloco.com/pages/greeting-cards-history-origins-uses|access-date=2020-11-07|website=LEMON LOCO|language=en}}</ref>

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, mechanization, and a [[Penny Post#United Kingdom|reduction in postal rates]] with the introduction of the [[postage stamp]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://postalheritage.wordpress.com/2009/08/21/rowland-hill%E2%80%99s-postal-reforms/ |title=The British Postal Museum & Archive — Rowland Hill's Postal Reforms |access-date=2010-09-11 |archive-date=2014-12-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141224185335/http://postalheritage.wordpress.com/2009/08/21/rowland-hill%e2%80%99s-postal-reforms/ |url-status=live }}</ref> This was followed by new trends like [[Christmas card]]s, the first of which appeared in published form in London in 1843 when [[Sir Henry Cole]] hired artist [[John Calcott Horsley]] to design a holiday card that he could send to his friends and acquaintances. In the 1860s, inventor Hugh Pierce Jr., inspired by the Christmas card, invented the [[Birthday card]]. Companies like [[Marcus Ward & Co]], [[Charles Goodall & Sons|Charles Goodall & Son]], and Charles Bennett began the [[mass production]] of greeting cards. They employed well-known artists such as [[Kate Greenaway]] and [[Walter Crane]] as illustrators and card designers. The extensive [[Laura Seddon Greeting Card Collection]] from the [[Manchester Metropolitan University]] gathers 32,000 [[Victorian era|Victorian]] and [[Edwardian era|Edwardian]] greeting cards and 450 [[Valentine's Day]] cards dating from the early nineteenth century, printed by the major publishers of the day.<ref>{{cite web| title = MMU Special Collections - Victorian Ephemera| publisher = [[Manchester Metropolitan University]]| url = http://www.specialcollections.mmu.ac.uk/victoria.php| access-date = November 8, 2013| archive-date = November 9, 2013| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131109164103/http://www.specialcollections.mmu.ac.uk/victoria.php| url-status = dead}}</ref>

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.

In the 1970s, [[Recycled Paper Greetings]], a small company needing to establish a competing identity against the large companies like [[Hallmark Cards]], began publishing humorous, whimsical card designs with the artist's name credited on the back. This was away from what was known as the standard look (sometimes called the Hallmark look.){{Citation needed|date=August 2008}}

During the 1980s, reduced costs of small batch printing and die cutting together with a growing taste for handmade cards made it economically possible for smaller niche companies to set up in competition with the large established brands.  Innovative companies such as [[Nobleworks]] and [[Meri Meri]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2005/11/25/greeting-cards-take-belmont-company-on-a-successful-ride/|title=Greeting cards take Belmont company on a successful ride|date=25 November 2005}}</ref> grew from their foundation in the 1980s to becoming significant influencers in the industry. A thriving market was established for what were now called "alternative" greeting cards. The name stuck even though these "alternative" cards grew to embrace a vast range of styles and ultimately changed the look of the industry.

The largest recorded number of greeting cards sent to a single person went to [[Craig Shergold]], a beneficiary/victim of [[chain letter]]s and later chain emails.