History

• Writing goodwill greetings is generally thought to have originated in China with messages related to the New Year. The oldest known greeting card was a Valentine's Day card hand-delivered in England in the 1400's.
  
  

Types

• Birthday greetings often fall into one or more categories: expressions of love, wishes for success or health, age-related humor, celebration-related humor or simple birthday wishes.
  
  

Features

• Focusing on one event during the past year or one feature of the person having the birthday can make the birthday writing more personal and specific to this year. Most greetings are short and include good wishes for the coming year.
  
  

Considerations

• Birthdays can also be a time of introspection. On milestone birthdays consider writing a longer letter explaining what the person means to you or how the person has impacted your life.
  
  

Warning

• Avoid using stock phrases with friends and family. Short, sincere greetings are more appreciated than lengthy passages that can be found in any birthday card.
  
  

Fun Fact

• People receive an average of 7 birthday cards a year. More than a billion birthday cards are sent in the US annually.