A Brief History of the Greeting Card

The oldest known greeting card to exist is a Valentines Card made in the 1400's and is on display at the British Museum in London England. It is believed that the origins of the greeting card began with the Chinese who sent good will tidings for New Years and with the ancient Egyptians who wrote greetings on papyrus scroll.

The traditional greeting card originated in England over 150 years ago. In 1843, Sir Henry Cole employed John Calcott Horsley to paint a greeting card that depicted the helping of the poor. The card featured a family celebrating Christmas festivities and sipping wine, the text wrote "A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you" At the time, the card was criticized for its immoral picture of children drinking wine but the custom of sending greeting cards began anyway. Christmas and Valentines cards were the most popular. Greeting cards were often elaborate with all types of accents such as silk, satin and fringe. They were even cards that folded like maps and resembled a jig-saw puzzle while others made noises or had pop-up images.

In 1840, the postage stamp was introduced and is what really helped make greeting cards popular and more accessible. No longer were greeting cards only for the rich and elite. Now greeting cards could be made more affordable and it grew to become a way of personal communication. Also with the advance of printing machines in 1860, new companies like Marcus Ward & Co. began mass producing greeting cards. In 1930, new developments in lithography continued to expand the greeting card industry. By the 1950's, humorous cards became more popular called "studio cards" and it consisted of a long card with a short punch line.

Greeting Cards came to Canada in the 1870's often depicting winter activity and sport scenes, and until 1918, most cards came from the United States and the United Kingdom.

Today, Pamit Cards is helping to keep the tradition of sending greeting cards alive with a personalized service allowing people to conveniently purchase and send paper greeting cards from the comfort of their own home.