Birthday card

[4] Research suggests that birthday cards may be "indicators of societal attitudes towards aging, communication of love, and gender-based expressiveness.

"[3] For example, one study analyzing 150 birthday cards in 1981 found negative views on aging portrayed through humor.

[4] Because of the ubiquity of the sentiments in cards, sociologist Dana Sawchuk recommended replicating this research with undergraduates as a form of active learning.

A 2009 survey of the attempts "indicated that the birthday card intervention was not successful at reducing drinking or consequences".

[7] There is evidence that the ancient Egyptians and the ancient Greeks celebrated certain days as the birthday of particular gods and the book of Genesis contains the description of a pharaoh’s birthday party, but it was the Romans who began the custom of celebrating the birth of ordinary men.