Ever wonder where the greeting card originally started? They convey such wonderful sentiment and heart felt feelings. They can also be mischievous and funny. Either way, in the past, they have always been an excepted part of our lives. Until now, that is, but I will tell you my story a little later.
I would like to relay a little information regarding the history of greeting cards. Basically a condensed version.
Greeting Cards date back to as far as the Egyptian culture with a greeting that was written on papyrus scrolls and also in the Chinese culture with good will messages in celebration of their New Years. By the 15th century handmade greetings were exchanged in celebration of Holidays as well as a Sweetheart Valentine greetings. Originally considered an expensive item to exchange, somewhere around the mid 1800's, they were being produced in a more inexpensive manor. Becoming more affordable due to improvement in printing machinery and postage stamps were also a great help by becoming more affordable.
Christmas Cards start to appear in London somewhere around the 1840's. It's guesstimated that in the UK the average person sends approximately 55 greeting cards a year.
There are a couple of Greeting Card giants we have seen throughout the years. They are Hallmark Cards and American Greetings. Who hasn't sent one of their cards. I myself have sent many throughout my lifetime.
Hallmark has a history that starts in 1910 with a gentleman at the young age of eighteen named J.C. Hall. When he arrived in Kansas City, Missouri, he had in his possession two shoe boxes of postcards. Not having much money in his pocket he went to the local YMCA for shelter. Starting his business of picture postcards he soon had his brother Rollie joining him in early 1915. Their company name "Hall Brothers." Their inventory was unfortunately destroyed by a fire. With determination and thoughts of moving forward they continued on with their business. Postcards are not exactly a private item to send through the mail, so they decided to add privacy to their greetings and added envelopes to their new designs of higher quality holiday greetings.
American Greetings was started in Ohio by a Polish immigrant in 1906. His name was Jacob Sapirstein. He sold his greetings from the back of a horse drawn wagon. At the age of five his son Irving, who eventually changed his last name to Stone, was assisting his father in their business. Irving, when he left high school, began to work full time. Throughout the years it has been a family owned business that was passed down through the generations. American Greetings is also now on the Internet and has several websites.
I do not wish to disparage either company as they have wonderful greetings that have been established for many years.
We too have been around for many years, starting around 1990. Maybe not as long as Hallmark or American Greetings, but for a great many years. Even though Hallmark Cards and American Greetings have wonderful greetings, they unfortunately have the misfortune to be thrown in a drawer and sometimes even thrown away. Paper gets bent, sags, collects dust and after awhile just doesn't look as appealing as it did when you first took it out of the envelope.
Now, enter the age of the Internet. Sure, E Cards are nice, but you can't display them around your house. Our everyday lives are so busy now that we want and need to have convenience and economy along with quality and durability.
Our Message in a Bottle greetings are one of the most unique greetings you can run across on the Internet today. While we have your traditional Message in a Bottle greetings that has the typical ingredients such as faux sand with shells and various items associated with a tropical island beach scene. We also carry greetings that will compliment just about any holiday or function you could possibly imagine, AND it will also be an added decoration to any part of your house and even your desk at work. Hand made greetings with lovely silk flowers complimented by a coordinated background color to make this beautiful greeting complete. Like paper greeting cards, these message bottles will collect a little dust, but just at you dust and clean your house, these little gems require a little dusting off and they look just like new. Another one of our selections we have created is to personalize the greeting with a transparent photo of someone you love. We have also created our unique transparent greetings to announce weddings and anniversaries, birth announcements and even a retirement party for a military family. The choices are endless with our special and unique style of greetings. Needless to say, if we don't have what you are looking for all you need to do is to contact us with any special idea you have and we should be able to accommodate any special event you might have.
