Greeting Cards

Standard Greeting Cards: A standard greeting card is printed on high-quality paper (such as card stock), and is rectangular and folded, with a picture or decorative motif on the front. Inside is a preprinted message appropriate to the occasion, along with a blank space for the sender to add a signature or handwritten message. A matching envelope is sold with the card. Some cards and envelopes feature fancy materials, such as gold leaf, ribbons or glitter.

Photo Greeting Cards: In recent years, photo greeting cards have gained widespread popularity and come in two main types. The first type are photo insert cards in which a hole has been cut in the center. Your photo slides in just like a frame. The second type are printed photo cards in which the photo is combined with artwork and printed, usually on a high-end digital press, directly onto the face of the card. Both types are most popular for sending holiday greetings such as Christmas, Hanukkah & for baby showers.

Musical Greeting Cards: Modernly greeting cards have been conceived which play music or sound when they are opened. They commonly have 3D handmade birthday cards which play traditional celebration songs such as Happy Birthday To You.

Electronic Greeting Cards: (also called E-cards) Greeting cards can also be sent electronically. Flash-based cards can be sent by email, and many sites such as Facebook enable you to send greetings. More recently, services have launched which enable you to send greetings to a mobile phone by text message. Many of these electronic services, such as ValenTXT, offer open or anonymous chat, to enable further discussion.

Pictures and printed messages in greeting cards come in various styles, from fine art to humorous to profane. Non-specific cards, unrelated to any occasion, might feature a picture (or a pocket to paste in a personal photograph) but no preprinted message.

Happy New Year is a musical with a book by Burt Shevelove and music and lyrics by Cole Porter.

Based on Philip Barry's comic 1928 play Holiday and its subsequent 1930 film adaptation and better known 1938 remake, it focuses on hedonistic young Wall Street attorney Johnny Case who, driven by his passion to live life as a holiday, contemplates abandoning his career for a carefree existence by marrying wealthy upper class Julia Seton.

In 2008, it was released again in several countries, and charted in Denmark , Norway , and Sweden. It re-entered the Sweden and Norway charts in 2009 at in both charts.

History

Porter successfully had transformed Barry's The Philadelphia Story into the musical film High Society, so Shevelove pored through the composer's catalogue in search of tunes that would fit Holiday's plot. When the show previewed at the Stratford Festival in Canada, the score consisted of lesser-known Porter songs, and Shevelove decided to eliminate most of them in favor of music more familiar to audiences. He also opted to replace much of Barry's original repartee with songs that suited neither the characters nor the situations, and replaced the gaps with a narrator whose purpose was to explain what was missing from the plot, a device that ultimately proved to be clumsy and confusing.

Synopsis

The Narrator introduces the Seton family, who in December 1933 live in a five story townhouse on Fifth Avenue in New York City. He relates their story.

Successful Wall Street lawyer Johnny Case has become engaged to Julia Seton. Julia and her sister Linda celebrate the engagement ("At Long Last Love"). However, Johnny has decided to abandon his well-paid career and instead live a life of pleasure, using Julia's money. Julia's banker father Edward is very upset and her willful sister Linda is fascinated. Johnny begins to realize that he loves the unconventional Linda, and they become a couple, disregarding the "old money and values" of others for a life together.

Other new year celebrations

The most common modern dates of celebration are listed below, ordered and grouped by their appearance relative to the conventional Western calendar.

Many cities across the world celebrate the New Year. The celebrations usually include a firework's display, and other festivities. London, for example, has a major fireworks display along the River Thames, followed by a parade on New Year's Day.

The Gregorian calendar is now used by many countries as the official calendar. This has meant that celebrations for the New Year have become much larger than before. Some countries^[which?] even consider 1 January to be a national holiday.

January

• New Year in France is one of the most traditional and oldest celebrations, but in fact they do not have any "rule" as on what to wear. New year in France is also known as Jour des Étrennes. This celebration starts on January 1 when the people start wishing each other Bonne année, which is the same as happy new year, and ends at 6 January. They have a great show with fire works shot near the Eiffel tower. French people call New Year's Eve la Saint-Sylvestre. On this day they have a special feast called le Réveillon de la Saint-Sylvestre in which they have nice dishes like pancakes and flavoured duck or goose. They drink champagne, a white sparkling wine produced in the Champagne Region of France. They also drink vin chaud (hot wine), but sparkling cider is also common. They also have a festival cake called galette des rois which has sometimes a little king figure baked inside. They believe, like several other countries, that this nice dinner brings a nice year to the family.

• The Tamil Nadu Tamil New Year (Declaration Bill 2008) was introduced in the House by the Tamil Nadu DMK Government on 29 January 2008. ^[2] According to the statement of objects and reasons of the Tamil Nadu Tamil New Year (Declaration) Act 2008, the Governor in his address to the House had announced that in view of the consensus amongst some Tamil scholars that the first day of the month of Thai is the first day of the Tamil year, the Government had decided to declare the first day of Thai as the Tamil Nadu Tamil New Year Day. This legislative enactment of the DMK government was not without controversy. It abolished the Tamil calendar for purportedly secular reasons and reaffirmed the use of the Tiruvalluvar era created in the 20th century as the official calendar. The order abolishes the use of traditional Tamil Years in the 60 year cycle. It proposes that 14 January of every year be celebrated as Tamil New Year in addition to the famous harvest/farmer festival Pongal^[3]. But the said resolution has been met with resistance.^{[4] [5][6]}and has been challenged in court ^[7][8][9].The opposition AIADMK and MDMK in Tamil Nadu condemned the decision of the DMK Government in that state and urged their supporters to continue celebrating the traditional date in mid-April^[10]. Tamils in Sri Lanka and in other diaspora communities worldwide continue to observe the new year in mid-April. as they are outside of the jurisdiction of the Tamil Nadu State of India.

• In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the civil New Year falls on Gregorian 14 January (1 January in the Julian calendar). Many in the countries where Eastern Orthodoxy predominates celebrate both the Gregorian and Julian New Year holidays, with the Gregorian day celebrated as a civic holiday, and the Julian date as the "Old New Year", a religious holiday. The orthodox churches of Georgia, Jerusalem, Russia, the Republic of Macedonia and Serbia still use the Julian Calendar.
• The Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year, occurs every year on the new moon of the first lunar month, about four to eight weeks before spring (Lichun). The exact date can fall anytime between 21 January and 21 February (inclusive) of the Gregorian Calendar. Traditionally, years were marked by one of twelve Earthly Branches, represented by an animal, and one of ten Heavenly Stems, which correspond to the five elements. This combination cycles every 60 years. It is the most important Chinese celebration of the year.

• The Vietnamese New Year is the Tết Nguyên Đán which is for most times the same day as the Chinese New Year.

• The Tibetan New Year is Losar and falls from January through March.

March

• Babylonian New Year began with the first New Moon after the Vernal Equinox. Ancient celebrations lasted for eleven days.

• Nava (new) Varsha (year) is celebrated in India in various regions in March-April.

• New Year's Day in the Sikh Nanakshahi calendar is on 14 March.

• The Iranian New Year, called Nowruz, is the day containing the exact moment of the vernal equinox, which usually occurs on 20 or 21 March, commencing the start of the spring season. The Zoroastrian New Year coincides with the Iranian New Year of Nowruz, and is celebrated by the Parsis in India and by Zoroastrians and Persians across the world. In the Bahá'í calendar, the new year occurs on the vernal equinox on 21 March, and is called Naw-Rúz. The Iranian tradition was also passed on to Central Asian countries, including Kazakhs, Uzbeks and Uighurs, and there is known as Nauryz. It is usually celebrated on 22 March.

• The Balinese New Year, based on the Saka Calendar (Balinese-Javanese Calendar), is called Nyepi, and it falls on Bali's Lunar New Year (26 March in 2009). It is a day of silence, fasting, and meditation: observed from 6 a.m. until 6 a.m. the next morning, Nyepi is a day reserved for self-reflection and as such, anything that might interfere with that purpose is restricted. Although Nyepi is a primarily Hindu holiday, non-Hindu residents of Bali observe the day of silence as well, out of respect for their fellow citizens. Even tourists are not exempt; although free to do as they wish inside their hotels, no one is allowed onto the beaches or streets, and the only airport in Bali remains closed for the entire day. The only exceptions granted are for emergency vehicles carrying those with life-threatening conditions and women about to give birth.

• The Telugu New Year generally falls in the months of March or April. The people of Andhra Pradesh, India celebrate the advent of New Year's Day in these months. This day is celebrated across entire Andhra Pradesh as UGADI (meaning the start of a new Year). The first month is Chaitra Masam. Masam means month.

• Kashmiri Calendar, Navreh (New Year): 5083 Saptarshi/2064 Vikrami/2007–08 AD, 19 March.

• Gudi Padwa is celebrated as the first day of the Hindu year by the people of Maharashtra, India. This day falls in March or April and coincides with Ugadi. (see: Deccan)

• Ugadi, the Kannada New Year is celebrated by the people of Karnataka, India as the beginning of a new year according to the Hindu Calendar. The first month of the New Year is Chaitra.

• Sindhi festival of Cheti Chand is celebrated on the same day as Ugadi/Gudi Padwa to mark the celebration of the Sindhi New Year.

• The Thelemic New Year on 20 March is usually celebrated with an invocation to Ra-Hoor-Khuit, commemorating the beginning of the New Aeon in 1904. It also marks the start of the twenty-two day Thelemic holy season, which ends at the third day of the writing of The Book of the Law. This date is also known as The Feast of the Supreme Ritual. There are some that believe the Thelemic New Year falls on either 19, 20 or 21 March, depending on the vernal equinox, this is The Feast for the Equinox of the Gods which is held on the vernal equinox of each year to commemorate the founding of Thelema in 1904. In 1904 the vernal equinox was on a 21st and it was the day after Aleister Crowley ended his Horus Invocation that brought on the new Æon and Thelemic New Year.

April

• The Assyrian New Year, called Rish Nissanu, occurs on the first day of April.

Mid-April (Northern Spring)

The new year of many South and Southeast Asian calendars falls between 13 and 15 April, marking the beginning of Spring.

• Punjabi/Sikh New Year is celebrated on the 14th of April in Punjab.
• Nepali New Year is celebrated on the 1st of Baisakh Baisākh (12-15 April) in Nepal.
• Assamese New Year (Rongali Bihu or Bohag Bihu) is celebrated on 14–15 April in the Indian state of Assam.
• Bengali New Year (Bengali: পহেলা বৈশাখ Pôhela Boishakh or Bengali: বাংলা নববর্ষ Bangla Nôbobôrsho) is celebrated on the 1st of Boishakh (14–15 April) in Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal.
• Oriya New Year (Vishuva Sankranti) is celebrated on 14 April in the Indian state of Orissa.
• Sinhalese New Year is celebrated with the harvest festival (in the month of Bak) when the sun moves from the Meena Rashiya (House of Pisces) to the Mesha Rashiya (House of Aries). Sri Lankans begin celebrating their National New Year "Aluth Avurudhu" in Sinhala and "Puththandu (புத்தாண்டு)" in Tamil. However, unlike the usual practice where the new year begins at midnight, the National New Year begins at the time determined by the astrologers. Not only the beginning of the new year but the conclusion of the old year is also specified by the astrologers. And unlike the customary ending and beginning of new year, there is a period of a few hours in between the conclusion of the Old Year and the commencement of the New Year, which is called the "nona gathe" (neutral period). During this time one is expected to keep off from all types of work and engage solely in religious activities. It will fall on 13 April for the year 2009.
• Tamil New Year (Puthandu) is celebrated in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, on the first of Chithrai (சித்திரை). In the temple city of Madurai, the Chithrai Thiruvizha is celebrated in the Meenakshi Temple. A huge exhibition is also held, called Chithrai Porutkaatchi. In some parts of Southern Tamil Nadu, it is also called Chithrai Vishu. The day is marked with a feast in Hindu homes and the entrance to the houses are decorated elaborately with kolams. While the holiday generally falls on 13 or 14 April, this may no longer be the case (officially at least) in Tamil Nadu in the future, as a bill declaring the first day of the Tamil month 'Thai' (January 14) as the new Tamil New Year day was unanimously passed in the Tamil Nadu State Assembly.
• Malayali New Year (Vishu) is celebrated in the South Indian state of Kerala.
• In some parts of Karnataka, the new year may be celebrated in mid-April, although it is most commonly celebrated on the day of Gudi Padwa, the Maharashtrian new year.
• The Water Festival is the form of similar new year celebrations taking place in many Southeast Asian countries, on the day of the full moon of the 11th month on the lunisolar calendar each year. The date of the festival was originally set by astrological calculation, but it is now fixed on 13–15 April. Traditionally people gently sprinkled water on one another as a sign of respect, but as the new year falls during the hottest month in Southeast Asia, many people end up dousing strangers and passersby in vehicles in boisterous celebration. The festival has many different names specific to each country, in Myanmar it is known as Thingyan (Burmese: ; MLCTS: sangkran), Songkran (Thai: สงกรานต์) in Thailand, Pi Mai Lao (Lao:ປີໃໝ່ Songkan) in Laos, and Chaul Chnam Thmey (Khmer: បុណ្យចូលឆ្នាំថ្មី ) in Cambodia. It is also the traditional new year of the Dai peoples of Yunnan Province, China. Religious activities in the tradition of Theravada Buddhism are also carried out, a tradition which all of these cultures share.

A greeting card is an illustrated, folded card featuring an expression of friendship or other sentiment. Although greeting cards are usually given on special occasions, such as birthdays, Christmas or other holidays, they are also sent to convey thanks or express other feeling. Greeting cards, usually packaged with an envelope, come in a variety of styles. There are both mass-produced as well as handmade versions that are distributed by hundreds of companies large and small. While typically inexpensive, more elaborate cards with die-cuts or glued-on decorations may be more expensive.

Hallmark Cards and American Greetings are the largest producers of greeting cards in the world. Recycled Paper Greetings was the first to print their product on recycled paper, a practice much more common today. In the United Kingdom, it is estimated that one billion pounds are spent on greeting cards every year, with the average person sending 55 cards per year.

In western countries and increasingly in other societies, many people traditionally mail seasonally themed cards to their friends and relatives in December. Many service businesses also send cards to their customers in this season, usually with a universally acceptable non-religious message such as "happy holidays" or "seasons's greetings".

A custom greeting card made from an ESA/Hubble image

The custom of sending greeting cards can be traced back to the ancient Chinese, who

exchanged messages of good will to celebrate the New Year, and to the early Egyptians, who conveyed their greetings on papyrus scrolls. By the early 1400s, handmade paper greeting cards were being exchanged in Europe. The Germans are known to have printed New Year's greetings from woodcuts as early as 1400, and handmade paper Valentines were being exchanged in various parts of Europe in the early to mid-1400s, with the oldest Valentine in existence being in the British Museum.^[2]

By the 1850s, the greeting card had been transformed from a relatively expensive, handmade and hand-delivered gift to a popular and affordable means of personal communication, due largely to advances in printing and mechanization. This was followed by new trends like Christmas cards, the first of which appeared in published form in London in 1843 when Sir Henry Cole hired artist John Calcott Horsley to design a holiday card that he could send to his friends and acquaintances. In the 1860s, companies like Marcus Ward & Co, Goodall and Charles Bennett began the mass production of greeting cards. They employed well known artists such as Kate Greenaway and Walter Crane as illustrators and card designers.

Technical developments like color lithography in 1930 propelled the manufactured greeting card industry forward. Humorous greeting cards, known as studio cards, became popular in the late 1940s and 1950s.

In the 1970s Recycled Paper Greetings, a small company needing to establish a competing identity against the large companies like Hallmark Cards, began publishing humorous "whimsical" card designs with the artist's name credited on the back. This was away from what was known as the standard look (sometimes called the Hallmark look.). By the 1980s there was a thriving market for what were now called "alternative" greeting cards, and the name stuck even though these "alternative" cards changed the look of the entire industry.

The largest recorded number of greeting cards sent to a single person went to Craig Shergold, an early beneficiary/victim of an Internet chain mail.

A baby announcement or birth announcement is a notice traditionally sent to friends and family by the parents of a baby within the first year of the baby's birth for the primary purpose of alerting friends and family to the birth of the baby. A baby announcement will typically include at least some or all of the following information:

• the baby's name

• one or more pictures of the baby

• the baby's birth date and time

• the baby's birth weight and height

• the location of the baby's birth

• the names of the baby's parents and other family members

• an expression of gratitude by the parents for the arrival of the baby

• an invitation to attend a baby shower for the mother of the baby

Birthday parties

In Western cultures, particularly in the United States and Australia, birthday parties are often accompanied by colorful decorations, such as balloons and streamers. A birthday cake is often served with candles that are to be blown out after a “birthday wish” has been made. The birthday boy/girl gets the first piece of cake. While the birthday cake is being brought to the table, the song Happy Birthday to You is sung by the guests. Wealthy people and celebrities may hire an event management agency or a party service to organize a birthday party.

A child’s birthday party may be held at his/her home or in a public place. Soft drinks are often had alongside water and both sweet and savory foods are typically served to the guests. In many cultures, a birthday cake is served. Birthday parties for children often feature entertainment, costumes, and a theme. Adults’ birthday parties in Western countries are often held in bars or nightclubs. Though some are held at a restaurant or even at home. Usually a birthday party includes gifts for the person whose birthday it is. Most people who come to the birthday party are the ones who have the gifts.

Birthday presents

In addition to parties, it is common for people to receive gifts on their birthday. The popular gifts include toys, books, jewellery, clothes, flowers, technical devices, etc. However, sometimes it is expected of the person celebrating their birthday to treat their party guests instead; this varies depending on the local culture and may involve party gifts or other gestures, for example inviting to the restaurant or bar (some of them offer special birthday programs), arranging party at home, or at work.

Birthday greetings

In most English-speaking countries it is traditional to sing the song Happy Birthday to You to the honored person celebrating a birthday. Happy Birthday songs are common worldwide. Similar songs exist in other languages such as "Zhu ni sheng ri kuai le" in Mandarin Chinese, "Lang zal hij/zij leven" in Dutch, "Õnne soovime Sul" in Estonian, "Zum Geburtstag Viel Glück" in German, "Nα ζήσεις και χρόνια πολλά " in Greek, "Hayom Yom HUledet" in Hebrew, "Que los cumplas feliz" or "Cumpleaños Feliz" in Spanish, "Parabéns a você" in Portuguese, "Maligayang Bati" in Filipino, "Sto lat" in Polish, "Lá Breithe Shona Duit" in Irish, "Ja må du leva" or "Med en enkel tulipan" in Swedish, "Joyeux Anniversaire" or "Bonne Fête" in French, "Tanti Auguri a te" in Italian and "Iyi ki dogdun, Mutlu Yillar Sana" in Turkish.^{[citation needed]}This song is a common greeting used on birthdays, along with greeting cards and verbal greetings with messages such as "I wish you a Happy Birthday" or "Happy Birthday."