Forms of correspondence with preprinted written sentiments and illustrative pictures, greeting cards have in many ways replaced more traditional and personalized forms of communication like letter writing by appealing to the needs of busy Americans and their willingness to mark an increasing number of holidays and events in largely commercialized ways. Rather than writing lengthy missives by hand, Americans since the turn of the century have found it easier to purchase prewritten sentiments in the form of greeting cards that they need only sign, address, and mail.

The earliest objects resembling greeting cards were handmade Valentines, popular in Europe and America in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. By the 1840s, both English and German chromolithographers had developed techniques allowing them to publish full-color postcards commemorating, primarily, Christmas and Valentine's Day. These enjoyed large commercial success in America as well as Europe, beginning what would become an...