A lot of things have changed since the world decided to move most of its doings, social and commercial, onto the internet. You no longer have to pay a visit to the local library to do research on something, you can usually find everything you need to know about almost anything with just a few clicks of your mouse! Things that you want to buy once required you to go down to the store, choose them, purchase them, then carry them home, but now you can visit a store’s website, browse their virtual selection, place your order, pay, and wait for it to be delivered right to your door!

Despite all that, there are still a few things that the internet hasn’t replaced, at least not completely. One of those things is greeting cards. Every Christmas you can still expect a few cards to show up in your mailbox to bring you their season’s greetings. If you get sick your hospital bed stand will feature some lovely get-well cards, and of course, when your birthday rolls around so will the birthday cards! Businesses are a major player in keeping the tradition alive, they order bulk birthday cards to send out to all their clients and customers stored in their database, a lovely gesture, even though you are receiving it from your insurance company or your doctor’s office, it still feels nice to get a card!

So, how did all that card-giving get started?

Like so many interesting things, such as paper, surgical instruments, toothpaste, and wigs, the tradition of sending people written greetings can be traced back to the early Egyptians who sent papyrus scrolls with written messages to each other to wish friends and family good fortune on auspicious occasions. They originally carved their hieroglyphic greetings on stone blocks to send, but all that weight made the post far too dear.

Since that strange and ancient time, many cultures have exchanged greetings cards in one form or another. During the 1400’s handmade greetings were being exchanged across Europe. In Germany the greetings were created using woodcuts, a highly time-consuming printing process in which the design was hand-carved into a block of wood, dipped in ink, then pressed onto the paper. Not to be outdone, the Italians crafted much more delicate handmade cards with intricate and delicate lace effect filigrees applied to them. These were especially popular for Valentine’s Day, that February festival celebrating love that all single people hate. Both the woodcut and lace techniques were quite expensive, so the cards were mostly sent by people of means who could afford them.

Nowadays thanks to sappy cable TV movies and sentimental older relatives, greeting cards are still doing pretty well despite the electronic competition. Every year millions of cards are printed and sent out by mail, giving the world’s post offices something to do for a change since email nearly put them out of business. The custom will probably go on another century or so because it really is nice to open that cheerfully coloured envelope to find a handwritten message from someone who loves you enough to go to all the bother!