Greeting Card History

A Brief Overview of the History of Greeting Cards

A project for GSLIS 717 Human Records and Society at Dominican University

0100-01-01 00:00:00

Ancient Rome

New years greetings were shared-- these included inscriptions.

0600 BC-01-01 00:00:00

Ancient Egypt

Egyptians exchanged gifts for the new year and these included a written or verbal message.

1450-01-01 00:00:00

Germany

Earliest known holiday Greeting Card- a wood cutout bearing a New Year's message. This continued for the next 200 or so years.

1500-01-01 00:00:00

First Valentine

First Known Valentine Sent

1770-01-01 00:00:00

Vienna

Engravers and printers resurface in Vienna and the New Years card industry has a small revival.

1775-01-01 00:00:00

Messrs. De La Rue

Messrs. De La Rue founded- they would only be in business for 10 years.

1797-01-01 00:00:00

The young man's valentine writer

This book helped young men write proper valentines.

1800-01-01 00:00:00

Publishers begin publishing Valentines

Valentines begin production and grow in popularity.

1840-01-01 00:00:00

First U.S. Valentine

Esther Howland publishes the first valentines in the US.

1846-01-01 00:00:00

First Christmas Card

John Calcott Horsley, designed for this first card for Felix Summerly.

Greeting Card History

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