Greeting Card

I got a greeting card in the mail today. It's from the girl I started seeing a few weeks ago. The cover doesn't bode well...

There's always a certain feeling of anticipation and also worry when you get a card that's not associated with a holiday or personal milestone.

If it's your birthday you expect to get a few cards, same thing around Christmas or perhaps St Valentine's Day. But a card that arrives in the void betwixt days like that--well it could be trouble.

"My life was just fine until you came along..." That's not a line to inspire confidence, y'know?

This card from the Chipolte Girl made me curious about the entire greeting card industry so I wandered around the web for more information, getting most of it on Wiki. After all, an industry that only made money on birthdays and a few holidays probably wouldn't stay in business long. So how do they sell all those cards?

As it turns out, According to Wiki, the greeting card industry really got its start in the 1840's and 50s. :

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 cards, 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 1860’s companies like Marcus Ward & Co, Goodall and Charles Bennett began mass producing greeting cards. They employed well known artisits such as Kate Greenaway and Walter Crane as illustrators and card designers.

According to Wiki, it is estimated that one billion pounds are spent on greeting cards every year, with the average person sending 55 cards per year. That's in the UK but I assume similar numbers are true in the US.

I find that amazing. I send out cards every now and then but 55 a year? That's over one a week! I guess anyone with a lot of friends and family would do that though. I have a very small family and only a few close friends--I guess that's why I'm so surprised at that number. If forced to guess, I'd say I send 10 cards a year. How many do you think you send?

Comments

SassyAssy said…
awwww---she sounds like a sweetie! I bet it said something sickeningly sentimental...not something sexy & sassy like I would write.
Anonymous said…
55 per year? I beg to differ. Perhaps that stat was true before email took hold of everybody.
Anonymous said…
I only send birthday cards.

Greeting card industry is getting bigger and bigger.

Michele sent me here.
Shephard said…
55 a year??
Good Gravy! I don't think so! With e-cards available? And cell phones galore? I find that terribly hard to believe. If they'd said 15, I'd have thought that sounded reasonable. But I'm more like you... I likely only send about 10! Interesting facts on Wiki. Fun read.

Michele says hello!
~S
srp said…
OK, I must accept that the previous girl is now out of the picture.

You know in my vast experience(choke, choke), I have found that most guys get that scared look on their face and start running for the hills when a girl starts sending them cards for... well, almost anything.. birthdays included. My ex-husband just didn't do cards. Perhaps one might send out 55 thank you cards... if you had a baby shower or a wedding shower or a graduation.

Now I have seen a card that you probably never want to receive from a girl you are dating. On the outside, a lovely young lady sitting in a chair with hands neatly folded in her lap... the inscription....GUESS WHO'S PREGNANT!!??!!


Inside ---- Gotcha!
Paris Hilton????????????

OY!

I send out maybe 10 to 12 caqrds a year, other than Holiday cards I mean.....So I guess I don't fit THAT profile either!

Thanks for the Birthday Wish, my dear Dave.....Not too thrilled with the PH Comparison! (lol)
Bobkat said…
Awww.... how sweet, I bet it said something really nice inside :)

I was just thinking about that stat and I think I send out more cards a year than 55. I like the personal touch that taking the trouble to buy, write and send a card takes and I send out about 45 Christmas cards a year and over 10 birthday cards to friends and family. I think there is something special about receiving a card.

Michele sent me to say hi this weekend but you're always on my visits anyway :)
Anonymous said…
Honestly, I rarely send cards since I am such a lazy bastard. But I do send e-cards though!
carmilevy said…
My wife is the card-sender in our family, and if I had to guess, I think it would be well over 55. It's like a never-ending torrent of cards - and money, of course, for gifts and what not.

Annoying. I wish we weren't such a consumerist-sentimental society.

I'm hoping she wrote something funny inside. Sounds like she's got quite the sense of humor. You deserve that, and more.
craziequeen said…
Most of my friends live near me or even work with me - and we always get together for birthdays.

I send hardly any cards - actually, I don't think I'm normal, I'm missing the female (do cards and presents for everything) gene.....

Did Michele send me??

cq
craziequeen said…
Me again - so spill, dude.....was it sweet and sentimental or funny?

Enquiring minds need to know....

cq
kenju said…
There were times in my life that I sent more than 55 cards per year, especially if Christmas cards were included in the total. But I quit sending those about 3 years ago; as postage rises, it is prohibitive!

Michele sent me.
Craver said…
OOh. I bet I beat 55. I'm big on cards and I never forget a date. Birthdays, Deathdays, you name it I got 'em all in my little brain. Hallmark/Shoebox are part of my life. I know I know, there just isn't a 12 step group for this kind of problem.

ack. busted.
JC
Anonymous said…
Happy BD you.

Chris looks nice.

That count includes Xmas? I'd be bumping up the average if so. Plus I probably send one or two BD or anniversary or sympathy or get well cards per month.
Anonymous said…
Well lets see, I have sent in one year 900 greeting cards. YUP you saw that number correctly, 900 greeting cards. I send cards to say thank you, I miss you, have a great Wednesday, remember it's earth day and much more. I am in sales, and I have discovered that by saying thank you, and letting my friends and clients know they are appreciated not only do they feel good, so do I. And my business is proving it. I use a great system too, SendOutCards.com. They print, stuff, stamp and drop it in the mail for me. Way cool.

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