Greeting cards. Paper as proof of effort.
Britain sells more greeting cards per person than any other country on Earth. We outsourced our love to a paper mill.
THE GIST ON GREETING CARDS: "Paper as proof of effort"
How big is the card business?
Britain sells more greeting cards per person than any other country on Earth: 33 a year each. It's a £1.4 billion industry, bigger than the UK fishing fleet, and it's still growing.
Every other paper industry got wiped out: newspapers, magazines, encyclopedias, even the phone book. But we all love cards. Card Factory has over a thousand stores. Moonpig turns over £120 million a year.
Why do we still send them?
In a country where every other kind of message is free, we still spend three quid on paper because a card is a receipt. It's proof of effort. You choose one, write in it, stamp it and walk it to the post box.
Every step is an inefficiency, and every inefficiency is a pilgrimage of care. A WhatsApp costs nothing. A card takes an hour, if you're someone like me, and sits on a mantelpiece for a fortnight.
What is the industry really measuring?
How far apart we've moved. Cards sell because of the distance of modern life. We catch up more than we make time to see each other, and we buy £1.4 billion of paper a year because it's the next best thing to quality time.
What is on your mantelpiece?
Every card is proof that someone remembered you, and often proof of their absence. Every year we build a bigger monument to relationships we're maintaining rather than growing. How many are you sending this year?
Card or WhatsApp message?
Your take. One tap, then see how everyone else voted.
Quick answers
How many cards does Britain send?
33 per person a year, the most of any country, in a £1.4 billion industry according to Huw.
Why do we still send cards?
Huw says a card is a receipt, proof of effort, in a country where every other message is free.
What does the card business really measure?
How far apart we have moved: cards sell because of the distance of modern life.
See you on the next one.
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