Vintage Christmas

A Brief History of the Greeting Card

In the old days, greeting cards were mainly used by the wealthy. 

Handmade, hand-delivered; these cards were not often used by the common people. 

It was simply too expensive to be practical.

It is believed that even the early Greeks and Romans used medals and scrolls 

to pass along their "New Year's Wishes" to the leaders of the country.

Throughout the years, the "greeting card" concept came and went with the ages. 

Their history is vague at best and is filled with large gaps.

In the 1400's, Germany produced woodcut "New Year's" and Christmas cards.

Intended for decoration, these crudely made cards were also traded among 

friends and family.

In the mid 1800's, Germany again led the way when they began 

mass producing greeting cards with their new printing methods. 

This, combined with more modern postal systems, created a "new" industry. 

Greeting cards were now more affordable and practical to send to a loved one.

However, the postcard, (which was also evolving during this time period), took away 

some of the popularity of the greeting card. They were even cheaper to send 

and became wildly popular during the late 1890's - early 1900's.

The vintage greeting card survived and evolved itself throughout the 1900's. 

The serious greeting card turned humorous, as cards were made and sent, "just to make someone happy." This trend caught on and continues to be popular to this day.

Most of these images are courtesy of Magic Moonlight  (A few were found in Google images)