Card Reading Day on February 21 is a sentimental holiday on which people savor the greeting cards sent to them over the years. There is nothing better than going through aisles of greeting cards and selecting one that will best express our feelings for another. In our case, we hand make them. These cards are special and we hold on to them for sentimental reasons.
What’s the occasion when you send the most cards? Do you prefer to send handmade or store bought cards? Will you be reading your cards today?
HISTORY OF CARD READING DAY
In Ancient Egypt, greetings were exchanged through inscriptions. This evolved by the 15th century when engravings were carved on wood for occasions like Christmas and New Year’s Day. But it wasn’t until the tradition of Valentine’s Day in the 1400s that greeting cards truly emerged. When postage stamps were introduced in England in 1840, Valentine’s Day mail increased. In 1843, the first Christmas card was designed by John Callcott Horsley.
From the 1830s until the Civil War, sentiment cards were most popular in the United States. Greeting cards started getting commercially produced by the 1860s and became widespread. Production of greeting cards decreased in the 1890s, and Germany became the market leader until WW1. This is when the United States became prominent once again in the greeting card industry. Hallmark cards became especially famous globally for their innovative production techniques and quality of cards.
Today, more people exchange greeting cards in the United States than in any other country. Even though eCards and greetings conveyed on social media have increased, tangible greeting cards remain popular. Christmas cards are the most popular in the seasonal cards category, whereas birthday cards are the most popular everyday cards.
Stationery companies and eCard companies campaign and encourage everyone to send cards on Card Reading Day.
