“Christmas cards create a thread that binds families and friends,” says Hamilton Davison, President of Paramount Cards, America's oldest greeting card company. Andy Meehan, Executive Vice President, adds, "Christmas cards reflect trends in society."
Pawtucket, RI (PRWEB) December 6, 2005 -- Holiday sentiments are timeless, but how people convey their feelings tends to change with time.
Paramount Cards, celebrating its 100 Anniversary in the greeting card business, said Christmas cards changed in design and wording during the past century, but the messages of good cheer show a consistency of caring concern for others.
“Christmas cards offer a window to the past, and a look to the future of America. They create a thread that binds families and friends,” says Hamilton Davison, President of the nation’s third largest and oldest greeting card company.
“Christmas graphics get the attention, but the sentiment sells,” says Andy Meehan, Executive Vice President of Marketing, who likened Christmas cards trends to the trends in fashion and product marketing through the decades.
“Christmas cards range from traditional to cutting edge pop culture. Today, one may show Santa in icy blue and purple, reflecting the popularity of those colors, and express sentiment in a free flowing verse rather than traditional eight-line stanzas. But, the expressions of love and affection are unchanged.”
One traditional Christmas card from the 1930s depicts two silhouetted women wearing dresses and carrying Christmas packages. In the reintroduction of that card, Paramount colored in the previously white areas in vivid colors, including a red dress, a green dress and a blue background.
“In the 1940s, cards reflected World War II, in the 1950s many focused on the birth of ‘baby boomers,’ and today ‘blended’ families are a common theme. Cards sent during World War II and those sent to soldiers in Iraq differ in look, but the content is quite similar,” he added.
"This year we introduced more foreign language cards, reflecting the cultural diversity in
America. We have holiday wishes in Russian, Polish and Chinese,” said Meehan. He noted, “More than 85% use traditional colors, such as reds and greens, with the remaining 15% using trend-right colors.”
Greeting cards are big business, and Christmas cards represent about one-third of the $7 billion in total cards sold each year. About 90% of cards are purchased by women. Paramount Cards’ greeting card offerings number over 25,000 different designs and sentiments, and reflect all occasions.
“We are seeing appreciation as a key sentiment in Christmas cards. We introduced lines based on appreciation, called ‘Somebody Cares’ and ‘Have I Told You Lately,’ to help senders tell friends and relatives how important they are in their lives. This theme is evident this holiday season as well,” said Meehan. Hectic lifestyles are evident today, so we introduced “Spice of Life,” “Hectic Housewives” and “Kidz Rule” lines. “We keep up with trends in society and those trends are reflected in the holiday cards our customers purchase.”
Based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Paramount Cards features a full-line of more than 20,000 beautifully designed greeting cards, and is America’s oldest and third largest greeting card company.
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