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Greeting Card History

The very beginning
The first ever form of greeting card to be sent was probably in Ancient China; around 2000BC! Historians have traced that the Ancient Chinese people used to send messages of goodwill to one another, to celebrate the start of a New Year.

The next milestone for greetings cards is some 3000 years later, when New Year's greetings cards were printed from cuts of wood in Germany in the year 1415.

By the mid 1400's, handmade paper Valentine's cards were being exchanged in several parts of Europe.

The first Christmas card
Sir Henry Cole is credited with creating the first Christmas card. Every year, Cole would write Christmas letters to his friends and family, wishing them goodwill for the festive season, but in 1843, when he realised he had left it too late to write his usual letters, Cole came up with an new idea. Cole commissioned his artist and friend John Calcott Horsely to engrave and colour a thousand cards by hand, with the message, "A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you". He sent these to all of his friends and family; an new and easy way to keep in contact with everyone at Christmas time.

The modern market
The introduction of the penny post, and advances in printing technology meant that in the 1850's it was now cheaper than ever to send a greeting card, and this form of communication became growingly popular, creating a new industry, with new jobs for artists and printers.

In 2005, more than 2 billion cards were sold in the UK; more cards per person than any other nation! This huge market continues to create new and innovative cards, with over 800 publishers working hard to produce them.