SUNDAY POST
28th DEC – 3rd JAN
When was the last time you celebrated some of the most memorable of occasions like birthdays, Christmas or New Year without gifting your loved ones a greeting card? The writings on a greeting card often convey emotions which words fail to express. With just a few days left to welcome the year 2015, denizens across the city are flocking to malls and supermarkets to choose their desired cards for their loved ones. Sunday POST deciphers the importance of a greeting card for every occasion and also guides you in choosing just the right greeting card this New Year.
A greeting card is defined as ‘an illustrated piece of card featuring an expression of friendship or other sentiment.’ They come in a variety of styles usually packaged with an envelope. In keeping the New Year celebrations in mind, greeting cards are variedly designed and accordingly words are imprinted to facilitate each customer in choosing their desired cards.
While cards carrying pictures of teddy bears, wacky cartoons, funny caricatures are appropriate for gifting to friends, on the other hand cards bearing pictures of couples or heart-shaped motifs are mainly bought as gifts for loved ones.
One can also find cards bearing simple messages and flower motifs specially dedicated to father, mother, sister or other relatives.
“I prefer greeting cards which are big as somehow they look more attractive. This New Year I plan to buy a pop card for my husband where a funny image or a sweet message will pop up as he opens the card on 31st eve. I love cards bearing red heart-shaped motifs and even the shimmery ones,” says Tanaya, a professional
Here are some of the most recognised New Year cards available in the market:
- A standard New Year card is printed on high-quality paper, and is rectangular and folded, with a picture or decorative motif on the front. Inside is a pre-printed message appropriate for the occasion, along with a blank space for the sender to add a signature or handwritten message. A matching envelope is sold with the card. Some cards and envelopes feature fancy materials, such as gold leaves, ribbons or glitters.
“Greeting card bearing images of teddy bears are my personal favourites as they can be gifted to both my friends and fiancée,” says Priyanka, a professional. This New Year I plan to gift my mother a card which bears a space to slide a photo of ours. For me bright colours like red, purple, blue and golden are always attractive.
- In recent years, photo New Year cards have gained widespread popularity. While the first variety are photo insert cards in which a hole is cut in the centre to slide a photo, the second type are printed photo cards in which the photo is combined with artwork.
- Personalised New Year cards generally have colourful designs on the front with the inside page kept blank to write personalised messages according to one’s wish.
- Reusable New Year cards: Though these cards can be a pinch in the pocket but the innovative designs often make them one of the most preferred greeting cards for the youths. Firstly, there are cards with slits in them positioned to hold pages. Secondly, there are notepad style cards where pages stick to the back of the cards.
- Risqué New year cards come with adult humour and cartoons. They bear funny and playful messages and bring smiles on the reader’s face
- Musical New Year cards: You open a card and suddenly you hear a happy New Year musical tone being played. They are commonly 3D handmade birthday cards which play traditional celebration songs.
“Cards form a quintessential part of any celebration. This New Year I plan to buy a musical card for my beau as I haven’t bought anything similar earlier. To gift my friends I prefer cards which carry humourous messages as they always bring smiles on their faces. I plan to gift a card to my brother-in law which will be simple, preferably golden or light pink and bearing flower motifs,” says Sharmistha, a student
- A pop-up New Year card once opened has a picture coming outward, giving the reader a surprise. Pictures and printed messages in greeting cards come in various styles, from fine art to humorous to profane.
- In the age of digitalisation, e-cards or electronic greeting cards serve as the most feasible and quick way to convey your greetings to your loved ones. From social networking sites like Facebook and Whatsapp as well as via email, an array of colourful cards can be sent this New Year by a mere click of the mouse. More recently, services have been launched which enable users to send greetings to a mobile phone by text message or by using mobile app. Such cards are called Mobile e-cards or MCards.
“I have already bought a perfect card for my best friend this New Year which is designed in the shape of a beer mug. I am sure he is going to laugh his lungs out once he sees it. I even plan to gift my brother a card which bears some images of attractive women in the front along with a humorous message. Such cards are my personal favourite as I consider gifting cards bearing pictures of flowers or teddy bears too old-fashioned,” says Agnideb, a professional
Will you choose a purple card with shimmery ribbons attached to it to gift your father-in-law this New Year? The answer is definitely ‘No’. The themes and colours of a card also play an important role depending on whom the card is being gifted to. SP brings you an array of themes and colours imprinted on New Year cards that will help you grab your pick.
Genesis of New Year cards
The custom of sending greeting cards can be traced back to the ancient Chinese, who exchanged messages of goodwill to celebrate the New Year. The early Egyptians conveyed their greetings on papyrus scrolls and by the early 15th century, handmade paper greeting cards were being exchanged in Europe. The Germans are known to have printed New Year’s greetings from woodcuts as early as 1400.
By the 1850s, the greeting card was transformed from a relatively expensive, handmade and hand-delivered gift to a popular and affordable means of personal communication. In the 1860s, companies like Marcus Ward & Co, Goodall and Charles Bennett began the mass production of greeting cards.
Technical developments like colour lithography in the 1930s propelled the manufactured greeting card industry forward. Humorous greeting cards, known as studio cards, became popular in the late 1940s and 1950s.
In the 1970s, recycled paper greetings, a small company needing to establish a competing identity against the large companies like Hallmark Cards began publishing humorous “whimsical” card designs with the artist’s name credited on the back. By the 1980s there was a thriving market for what were now called “alternative” greeting cards, which changed the look of the entire industry.