The custom of sending greeting cards is thought to go back to the ancient Chinese who used to exchange pleasant messages to celebrate the New Year and the early Egyptians who created their own greetings cards using papyrus scrolls. More traditional handmade greetings cards were first sent by Europeans in the 15th century and the tradition has gone from strength to strength.
Nowadays it’s much easier to send a card. You simply have to visit somewhere like the Card Factory and choose from their extensive range of thoughtful and ready-to-buy cards.
I think birthdays mark important milestones in our lives. Each one that passes indicates that we’ve made it through another year and survived! Cards are a great way to celebrate this and offer a way to express our emotions and feelings when perhaps we don’t know how to write the words ourselves. Cards with pre-written verses can be a life saver, whilst they’re still very thoughtful and you can pick out the one most suited to the occasion, they reduce the stress of having to write your own words or poem. Personalised cards are very popular now and they mean you can send someone exactly what you want, using your own words and even photographs.
I do sometimes wonder if greetings cards might die out in the age of technology, emails and emojis and then I visit a card shop at Christmas or Valentines Day and see how busy the shop is and how popular cards still are.
I always send a card and have kept a lot of special ones, ones from important birthdays like my 21st and 30th or ones from older relatives who are no longer with us. I’ve keep every card from when the little man was born and also all of his first birthday cards which are tucked away in his memory box. He will be able to read the comments and kind words that people wrote and see what he meant to the people in his life.
What do you think about greetings cards? Do you still send them?
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