Americans now purchase 7 billion greeting cards every year. Though some are kept as keepsakes, most end up in the trash if they are not tossed into the recycling bin.

Greeting cards have only been in existence since the mid-1800s, the result of one man replacing personal communication with mass production.

In Victorian England, it was common to write personal letters of good wishes and goodwill to one's friends and relatives at Christmas. In 1843 Sir Henry Cole commissioned John Calcott Horsley to design a single card expressing his holiday greetings that could be sent to his entire list, thereby relieving him of the stress of writing individual letters. Soon cards were being printed commercially and everyone in England was sending cards instead of letters.

Christmas cards became popular in the United States in 1880 when Louis Prang, a German immigrant lithographer, held a competition for card designs and began mass-producing beautiful cards.

Now, greeting cards are now available for all holidays of the year and for many other personal communications--"I love you," "Get well soon," etcetera, that formerly were conveyed in a personal note.

I don't want to sound as if I am against greeting cards. They certainly have their place and can be an excellent means of expressing one's feelings.

I just think a personal note, in one's own words, is, well, more personal, and more authentic than a greeting card. If you do decide to purchase a greeting card, choose one printed on recycled or tree-free paper.

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