GB2113610A - Greetings card - Google Patents

Abstract

A greetings card comprises a facia portion 12 carrying a decorative indicia and an internal portion 14, 16 adapted to receive a written message, the message part of the internal portion being a removable sheet 28 held within a pocket in the internal portion. The pocket preferably carries a cut out area 26 giving visual and manual access to the removable sheet. The removable sheet may carry a verse or other printed message together with space for the sender's own greeting. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Greetings card This invention relates to a greetings card and in particular to a greetings card which may be re-used.

Every year at Christmas and other festivals hundreds of thousands of greetings cards are bought and sent to family and friends. Choice of a suitable greetings card is a personal matter and is usually based on the attractiveness to the purchaser of the cover design together with the relevance of the verse or other message carried inside the card. Often a card with a pleasing cover will have an inappropriate verse, or vice versa. The invention seeks to provide a form of greetings card in which the decorative cover and the verse may be chosen separately.

According to the present invention there is provided a greetings card which comprises a facia portion carrying decorative indicia and an internal portion adapted to receive a written message, the message receiving part of the internal portion being a removable sheet held within a pocket on the internal portion.

The message receiving portion will preferably carry a verse or other suitable message together with a space for the sender to add his name or a personal message, but may in certain circumstances be left blank for reasons explained more fully hereinafter. The message receiving portion, being cheaper to produce than the remainder of the card, may be produced in larger quantities or greater varieties.

Thus, for example, a range of twenty decorative cards may be produced having message receiving portions carrying a hundred or more different verses and being appropriate for different occasions, for instance birthdays, anniversaries, and the like. In another preferred form of the invention the message receiving portion carries a printed verse or message on one side thereof and is blank on the other side thereof to receive a personal message from the sender which can be read by the recipient of the card but will not normally be seen when the card is on display. Thus affording a degree of privacy for personal greetings.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the most expensive part of the greetings card is reusuable and only the message receiving portion need be disposable.

Where 2 persons A and B, regularly exchange Christmas cards the insert can carry the message on one side from "A to B" and on the other side from "B to A". Thus the insert may also be re-used, being sent between A and B indefinitely. Naturally, the insert would be put in a different card each time it was used.

Desirably the removable sheet in addition to having space for the written message, may also carry a printed verse or other greeting.

Indeed, the facia portion of the card may carry a "neutral" design and the card may then be used for a variety of occasions depending on what message is printed on the sheet to be inserted into the pocket.

Naturally, the pocket portion receiving the sheet will have a cut-out or "window" area so that access may be obtained to the sheet both to write on a personal message and to enable the message to be clearly seen when written.

The invention will be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which the sole Fig. is a diagrammatic view of a greetings card constructed in accordance with the invention.

Referring to the drawing, a greetings card may be produced from a blank piece of thin card 10 which has been divided into three portions, 12, 14 and 1 6 by fold lines 1 8 and 20. The underside of the portion 1 2 forms the decorative facia of the card and will carry, for example, a Christmas scene or other appropriate decorative picture. The portion 1 6 is intended to be folded back on to the portion 1 4 and adhered thereto by means of tab portions 22 and 24 which are infolded and glued to the portion 1 4 thereby forming a pocket open along its top. The portion 1 6 contains a cutout area 26 which, gives visual and manual access to the interior pocket of the finished card.The message sheet 28 which may be a plain piece of card having a verse or other greeting 30 printed thereon and a blank area capable of receiving a personal message, is adapted to fit within the pocket formed between the portions 1 4 and 1 6 in such a manner that the verse and the personal message are clearly visible through the aperture 26. A similar or different verse 30 may be printed on the reverse side of the sheet 28 and, since the sheets 28 are relatively cheap to produce, a fresh supply of sheets 28 may be maintained for future use.

It is envisaged that when cards in accordance with the invention are in common use the recipient of cards from friends and relatives will display them as usual for an appropriate period and at the end of this, may, rather than disposing of them, merely remove and reverse the message sheets 28 or fit fresh message sheets 28 and re-use the cards at the next appropriate occassion. Since cards are not subjected to any appreciable wear other than travelling in the post, it is envisaged that a card in accordance with the invention may easily last five or ten years with appropriate changes of message sheet 28.

If desired, each card made in accordance with the invention may carry a reference number and the user may keep a note of such number to ensure that the same card does not get sent to the same people in successive years.

The shape of the window 26 may of course be chosen to be attractive and may be of a shape other than oblong, for example round, diamond shaped, scalloped or the like.

Claims (7)

1. A greeting card which comprises a facia portion carrying a decorative indicia and an internal portion adapted to receive a written message, the message receiving part of the internal portion being a removable sheet held within a pocket in the internal portion.

2. A card as claimed in claim 1 in which the removable sheet carries a verse or other desired printed message.

3. A card as claimed in either of claims 1 or 2 in which the removable sheet carries a blank portion for the sender to write a personal message.

4. A card as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 in which the indicia is of general applicability and the removable sheet determines the festival or other occasion for which the card is appropriate.

5. A card as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4 in which the pocket is formed by infolding and adhering a portion of the card.

6. A card as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4 in which the pocket has a cut out area therein to give visual and manual access thereto.

7. A greetings card substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.