Origin of the Greeting Card

The history of the greeting card can date back to the ancient Chinese who exchanged messages of goodwill to celebrate a New Year, and to early Egyptians who used papyrus scrolls to send greetings.

1400’s: Europeans begin selling and exchanging handmade greeting cards.

1775: Members of the Second Continental Congress appoint a Postmaster General for the United Colonies, creating the U.S. Post Office.

1840: Postage stamp is introduced.

1843: First known Christmas card is published in London when Sir Henry Cole hires artist John Calcott Horsley to design a holiday card for his friends.

1849: Esther Howland becomes the first regular publisher of valentines in the US and sell her first handmade Valentine. Howland establishes a successful publishing firm specializing in elaborately decorated cards.

1856: German immigrant Louis Prang opens a small lithographic business near Boston and American’s greeting card industry begins.

1866: By this time, Prang perfect the color lithographic process.

1875: Prang introduces the first complete line of Christmas cards in America.

1941: A small group of publishers, under the leadership of George Burkhardt of Burkhardt-Warner, established the Greeting Card Association.