What are the Benefits of Greeting Cards?
Handmade paper cards have been used in Europe from the fifteenth century. A Valentine card sent in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, is now in the British Museum. And the earliest commercial Christmas card was produced in 1848 for Sir Henry Cole. Nowadays sending birthday cards to family and friends is an integral part of life in the UK. The greeting cards industry generated a market revenue of $1,739.3 million in 2022. This is forecast to rise to $1,829.8 million by 2030. In the UK, the average person spends around £57 per year on greeting cards. But what are the benefits of greeting cards on a personal level, over and above this commercial aspect?
Greeting Cards are Valued and Treasured
In the same way as a personal letter is likely to be greatly valued by the recipient, a handwritten message inside an appropriate birthday greeting card is usually put on display for a week or more. And frequently, we keep our treasured birthday cards for much longer than this. We remember who sent them and when, and we enjoy the illustration on the front. This is often beautiful, original and colourful. Sometimes the card design embodies an emotional ethos, such as humour, sympathy, optimism or congratulations.
The Benefit of Feeling Valued
The card illustration can convey a message without further words being needed. Or it adds weight to the sender’s written communication. Christmas cards are still valued as an annual contact with our wider circle of of family, friends and acquaintances. At this benevolent time of year, our Christmas cards restore lapsed contacts, replenish relationships, encourage cheer and express hope for the future. A bright display of vibrant Christmas card designs is an integral part of our traditional and modern Christmas decorations.
On our birthdays we love to receive greeting cards from our closer family and good friends. The lovely birthday cards arranged on our shelves and windowsills reassure us that we are valued and remembered. Our loved ones have taken the trouble to choose, write in and send a personal greeting card on our special day. In itself, an attractive and well-chosen birthday card represents a small but extremely welcome gift.
Benefits to Senders and Recipients
And this is one of the greatest benefits of greeting cards. They are not only a real blessing to the recipient, but the sender also experiences great benefit as well. A greeting card can offer something more than we can provide with our own words. The picture on the front may be able to express what we feel better than our words could do. This is particularly true with Sympathy cards. In the same way as flowers, these have sensitive images that tactfully convey much of what we want to say without the need for words. Or they may add support and emphasis to what we have personally written in our card.
The Benefit of Words and Pictures
For many people, the printed words inside the greeting card are the most important feature. Although they choose the picture with care, the greetings inside are the priority. They find a card which imparts what they want to say more clearly, warmly or genuinely than they themselves can. And the ultimate example of this must surely be the ever-popular Valentine card. The romantic message of the floral images on the front of the card are supplemented inside by words that express loving, caring sentiments. The inhibitions of the sender are circumvented by the great benefit of an appropriate greeting card for Valentine’s Day!
No wonder the projected increase in greeting card sales for 2030 is so considerable and so confident. In our increasingly busy, hectic lives, we cannot fail to derive great benefits from sending and receiving greeting cards from all our friends, both near and far!