Greeting cards mark special occasions or provide friendly greetings to persons receiving them. Valentines were first commercially produced about 1800. The first Christmas card was made in London in 1843. The British artist John C. Horsley created it for Henry Cole, a government official. A London company published and sold about 1,000 copies of the card. Since that time, the sending of greeting cards on special occasions has become an important social custom. See also Christmas ; Valentine’s Day .
