Communicating emotion involves personal risk: we fill with uncertainty viewing the prospect of our words not connecting with the recipient and becoming misconstrued. In times like these, we often look into ourselves and decide how to best approach connection. But more often than not, we look beyond ourselves, to resources used regularly in everyday life. We listen to podcasts, read self-help books, and watch social media flit across our phones in search of guidance for achieving connection. The world as we know it has become a place of such guidance, saturated with brands and consumer products designed to market “advice, resources, and strategies to guarantee social connection” (West 2018). Nevertheless, there is a cost to receiving guidance in such a way. We may depend on these resources to inform our thoughts and ideas, producing impersonal messages. Greeting cards, in particular, enable easy social connection through text and images; however, they can be viewed to recipients as a generic, inauthentic gesture.
Firstly, greeting cards enable easy connection through text. In just a few words or even lines, a card can summarize the ways in which a person is appreciated, which is commonly conveyed humorously or poetically. In a card published by the Rust Craft Greeting Card Company in 1946, the text reads: “To all the loving thoughts of you/I have each day all year./I’m adding special wishes/Because your Birthday’s here:/There’s a special wish for gladness,/And a wish for new joys too,/In the loving “Happy Birthday”/I’m wishing, Dear, for you” (Shank 238). The text in this card conveys how much the receiver is loved in only a few lines. Additionally, the variety of wishes listed in the text reveals a close bond between the sender and recipient. However, most cards do not achieve this level of eloquence; rather, they use generic terms and phrases to attract consumers. This provides the illusion that the card has meaning and connection, when in reality it gives no real ‘personal and emotional depth’, thereby appearing simplistic and surface level. Succumbing to this illusion, the sender may rely on the preexisting message and feel less than willing to emote their own thoughts. This could threaten the sender’s individuality and the recipient may think that they are using the product of the greeting card to express appreciation rather than using the card as a tool. With this perspective, the recipient may also view the sender as consumerist dependent, unwilling to relay their thoughts without the aid of preexisting text.
Another example of this can be found in a current Hallmark card which reads: “Wishing a Wonderful Nephew…an equally Happy Birthday!” (Hallmark). The text found in the card sounds similar to an off-handed comment made to conclude a phone conversation. It sounds like a cliche afterthought as it “invokes a declaration and therefore renewal of existing emotional connections” (West 2018). No new comments are being made. Furthermore, the text contains no personal pronouns. The card refers to the nephew as a wonderful nephew and not my wonderful nephew. With this omission, the card reads generic and lacks any personal qualities directed towards the receiver. The recipient may feel confused by the sentiment in this card as it could be directed towards any nephew. Moreover, the receiver knows the card was purchased, but with this generic sentiment, any enclosed message is devalued. The sender had the opportunity to choose a more authentic card but rested with a card that expresses no emotion. In the eyes of the sender, sending a card is a kind gesture that generates connection but to the recipient, their message is diluted.
Even if greeting cards achieve any level of interpersonal connection, its text was mass produced and disseminated worldwide. Sending a greeting card may reveal the sender as someone unable to render their feelings without associating themselves with the media. In addition, greeting card makers construct their understanding of authentic emotional communication through a contradictory ideology: “each individual is unique, and yet emotions and the ways we communicate them are socially shared, even universal” (West 2018). This ideology suggests that our emotions are essentially universal, placing companies in the position to constitute and define what ‘authentic communication’ means to them. It further conflicts with the traditional approach that emotional expression should be original and individual. Greeting cards moreover violate the ideology of emotional expression as they engage consumers by browsing aisles and storefronts “for materials to express the self, thereby ceding their independence in communication” (West 2008). While the sender may have good intentions in mind, the recipient may deem a card as a generic, inauthentic gesture.
When used correctly, greeting cards also enable easy connection through the addition of visual aids. With or without a limited addition of text, images tell a story. They prescribe the emotional tone of the message and elaborate the thoughts of the sender. Oftentimes, cards include a nostalgic image which can trigger a happy memory. One such example has a drawing of a tall, frosted cake, decorated with candles, candy, stars, and the words ‘happy birthday.’ Towards the top of the cake is Woodstock, a character from “Peanuts.” For people who have read or grew up with “Peanuts,” seeing Woodstock may bring a sense of nostalgia and familiarity. Choosing a card such as this one may be considered a kind and authentic gesture since it transports the receiver to a comfortable and familiar place. It may bring them back to a so-called ‘better time.’
Many times, there is juxtaposition between the image that is placed in relation to the text, which creates two conflicting meanings of the card. When this occurs, the image stands independent from the focus of the card’s message. We see this with the popular motif of a house with a red sloping roof that bears the cover of many Christmas cards. The image showcases an idealized representation of the home and fills consumers with an attraction to rural nostalgia. When this card was first produced, “rural and small-town America was far from a contented place in the first decade of the 20th century” with farm children exiting at an alarming rate and the 1910 census recording a final majority-rural population (Gifford). The history of this image directly contradicts the idealized representation of the home since families were homeless. Even if the card maker’s intention was to promote hope and community, individuals may have been reminded of a happier time now abandoned.
We learn from these examples that greeting cards enable easy social connection through text and images; however, recipients can view them as a generic, inauthentic gesture. We learn that cards use text to summarize the ways in which a person is appreciated. However, most cards resort to using generic terms and phrases to attract consumers, supplying the illusion that there is meaning and connection. Falling ill to this trickery, the sender may rely on the preexisting text, threatening their individuality for communicating emotion. Even if greeting cards achieve any level of interpersonal connection, its text was mass produced and issued worldwide. This puts the idea of authentic communication into question as the traditional approach is to express oneself individually and originally. While the sender may have good intentions in mind, the recipient may deem a card as a generic, inauthentic gesture. We also learn that when applied correctly, images prescribe the emotional tone of the message and summarize the thoughts of the sender. Additionally, these images may trigger a happy and nostalgic feeling. Regardless, juxtaposition between the image that is placed in relation to the text may occur, creating two conflicting meanings of the card. As a result, the image stands independent from the focus of the card’s message, jeopardizing the sender’s intent of displaying an authentic gesture and distorting the entire meaning of the message.
Works Cited
Hallmark. You’re Wonderful Birthday Card for Nephew.
Schultz, Charles. Peanuts® Woodstock Tweet Yourself Right Funny Birthday Card.
Tuck, Raphael. Christmas Thoughts of You. 1931. New York.
West, Emily, and Illouz, Eva. Understanding Authenticity in Commercial Sentiment, 2018, pp. 123–144.
