Thanksgiving Cards 2021: 60 Cards to Surprise Your Loved Ones + 30 Thanksgiving Designs for Creating Custom Cards
Intro
Thanksgiving Cards. For many Americans, Thanksgiving is a special holiday that has deep roots in American history as well as a great opportunity for a family reunion. Thanksgiving indeed is a truly significant holiday for the American culture and this is why it has created a lot of traditions that most people follow to this day. Among the popular holiday traditions such as family reunions over a festive dinner, charity, and watching the parade in NYC, many people miss a cute tradition of sending out cards. In fact, this is the only way to congratulate those friends and relatives who live far away and cannot be with you on this day. Therefore today, we are going to try and bring back to life a sweet tradition of sending Thanksgiving greeting cards as well as have a look at the best Thanksgiving cards that will be your love at first sight. So without further ado, let us start.
Thanksgiving’s Origins
Thanksgiving Day is a particularly significant holiday for Americans, as it is associated with very important historical events for their country. The holiday appeared thanks to the first English settlers who on November 21, 1620, came to America on the Mayflower ship. Obviously, the first settlers’ lives were, to say the least, not a bed of roses and more than half of them (and in total there were just about 100 people) could not survive the winter that came shortly after their arrival. They were not ready for such cold weather, in addition, they had practically nothing to eat.
Meanwhile, when spring came, those who managed to survive founded the Plymouth Colony, which, as you know, gave the rise to the settlement of North America. However, the remaining settlers would hardly have lasted long if it had not been for the locals. It was the Indians who taught the Europeans how to cultivate American land as well as helped them to survive the first months. Eventually, the next fall the Pilgrim Fathers got a bountiful harvest. In this regard, the first governor of the colonists, William Bradford, came up with the idea to give praise to God for saving them. Therefore, in November 1621, the settlers made a feast, to which they invited about 100 Indians of the tribe who saved them. This was the first Thanksgiving Day in history.
However, for more than 150 years, the holiday was unofficial. In other words, it was celebrated from time to time and predominantly by religious people. The holiday became national only in 1789 when the first American President, George Washington, signed the decree. Therefore, Thanksgiving Day became the first national holiday and was celebrated every year on November 26. In 1864, Abraham Lincoln decided to change the date of the celebration to the last Thursday of November and, since that time, it remains the same.
Thanksgiving Traditions
On this day, Americans usually gather for a family holiday dinner, which is held at the home of the oldest members of the family. The festive dinner includes such dishes as a baked turkey in cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and sweet potatoes. According to historians, the first settlers had the same meals at the very first Thanksgiving feast with the Indians. In addition to that, the holiday also has its own traditional drink, which is apple cider. As a rule, before starting the meal, all family members thank God and each other for all the good things that have happened to them over the past year.
Another interesting Thanksgiving tradition is the pardoning of the turkey. This ceremony is usually held on the White House lawn on the eve of the celebration. Usually, there are two turkeys hanging around the While House lands – the national turkey and the vice turkey (in case something happens to the first bird). During the ceremony, the President traditionally reads a decree granting pardoning to the country’s main turkey (her deputy, as a rule, is also left alive), and then the lucky bird is sent to the zoo, where it lives the rest of its life. As a matter of fact, Americans get to choose both the national turkey and the vice turkey since the White House holds a special vote every year, during which those who wish are invited to choose the best bird out of 30 candidates.
Apart from that, it is customary to do good deeds on the eve of Thanksgiving. In particular, the distribution of free meals is very popular among Americans, in this way, they strive to give the needy a feeling of celebration. Sometimes the President himself gives out meals to the homeless and the poor. At the same time, serving food is not the only charity people do. In fact, many Americans make generous donations to various charity organizations or simply help those in need during this season.
Another great Thanksgiving tradition is parades. For example, the most popular one is the parade organized by Macy’s in New York. This grand procession marches from Central Park to 34th Street (Manhattan), where the famous Macy’s department store is located, which has long become one of the city’s attractions. At the same time, the parade participants, among whom there are usually many celebrities, carry huge inflatable figures of characters from popular cartoons, comic book heroes, movie characters, or other significant for the American culture people. While some people prefer to watch the parade on TV, others go outside to watch this with no exaggeration epic action.
In addition to that, on the fourth Thursday of November, the United States usually hosts a holiday football game. Therefore, many American men spend Thanksgiving in front of the TV, cheering for their favorite team.
It is also worth mentioning the fact that Thanksgiving usually opens the Holiday Season and Americans begin to actively prepare for Christmas and New Year. The fact, right after Thanksgiving, Americans sort of celebrate Black Friday, and the pre-Christmas sales start.
The Old Tradition of Sending Postcards
The tradition to exchange greeting cards on holidays appeared in the 19th century when Queen Victoria has released the first Christmas card and to this day many people still maintain this sweet tradition. As a matter of fact, after industrialization, the middle class as we know it today appeared and those people could afford to buy postcards. So basically, the economic growth made the postcard tradition popular because everyone wanted to send wishes to family and friends by writing them on a cute card. But certainly, the cards were predominantly sent out on various holiday occasions.
In 1875, for the first time in history, the postcard crossed the Atlantic Ocean and this is how the world’s greatest tradition was created. The sender was Louis Prang, an immigrant from Prussia, who send a postcard to his friend. Prang, who owned a lithographic company in Boston, brought the printed card from Germany to America and printed the first postcard using chromolithography.
Unfortunately, nowadays people almost forgot the sweet tradition to exchange greeting cards on holidays, which is actually kind of sad. So let’s try to bring this cute tradition back to life and send out some lovely cards this Thanksgiving. In case, you don’t know how to find lovely cards, I found some pretty cute options for you.
5 Best Thanksgiving Graphic Bundles
| Product Image & Rating (Out Of 10) | Product Name | Price |
|---|---|---|
 9.9
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Calligraphy for Thanksgiving Day
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 8.9
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Thanksgiving Stock Photos & Images. Photo Deal: 100 Royalty-free Photos & Vectors
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 8.9
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Thanksgiving Clipart Bundle: Happy Thanksgiving Vector Pack
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 9.9
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Thanksgiving Cards Collection
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 9.9
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10 Free Thanksgiving Fonts
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Disclosure: MasterBundles website page may contain advertising materials that may lead to us receiving a commission fee if you purchase a product. However, this does not affect our opinion of the product in any way and we do not receive any bonuses for positive or negative ratings.
21 Best Thanksgiving Cards 2021 for All Occasions
1. Hallmark Signature Thanksgiving Card (Thanksgiving Pie)
Price: $5.99
2. Hallmark Shoebox Funny Thanksgiving Card (Lard Have Mercy, Pumpkin Pie)
Price: $3.49
Price: $12.59
4. Hallmark Studio Ink Friendsgiving or Thanksgiving Card Assortment (6 Cards with Envelopes)
Price: $14.90
5. American Greetings Thanksgiving Cards, Moments (6-Count)
Price: $5.98
6. Happy Thanksgiving I’m thankful for you – Greeting Cards, 6 x 6 inches, set of 12
Price: $15.95
Price: $7.99
Price: $13.95
Price: $11.91
Price: $13.97
11. All Kinds of Grateful Thanksgiving Card
Price: $2.99
12. Grateful for You, Sweaters and Pumpkin Spice Thanksgiving Card
Price: $2.99
13. Grateful for You, Friend Thanksgiving Card
Price: $3.59
14. Floral Pumpkins Thanksgiving Card
Price: $6.99
15. Give Thanks Holiday Feast Thanksgiving Card
Price: $6.99
16. Cute Squirrel Long-Distance Hello Thanksgiving Card
Price: $2
17. Thankful for a Blessing Like You Thanksgiving Card
Price: $0.99
18. Sweet Surprises Pumpkin Pie Funny Thanksgiving Card
Price: $3.49
19. Enjoy the Blessings Thanksgiving Card
Price: $0.99
20. Peanuts® Snoopy and Woodstock So Thankful Thanksgiving Card
Price: $2
21. Sparkle Autumn – Thanksgiving Card
Price: available with Greeting Island Premium
Free Thanksgiving Cards
Plenty cornucopia – Thanksgiving Card
Great Thanksgiving – Thanksgiving Card
Thanksgiving Charm – Thanksgiving Card
Everyday Thankfulness – Thanksgiving Card
Tokens of Thanksgiving – Thanksgiving Card
Lets Talk Turkey – Thanksgiving Card
Pausefor Aday – Thanksgiving Card
Bird and Flowers – Thanksgiving Card
Missing You – Thanksgiving Card
Cute Thanksgiving Cards
Happy Thanksgiving To You Greeting Card
Price: $6.95
Thankful For You Greeting Card
Price: $5.95
Thanksgiving Cat Greeting Card
Price: $5.95
Floral Pumpkin Thanksgiving Stationery Set
Price: $17.95
Price: $4.95
Thankful And Grateful Card Set
Price: $17.95
Thanksgiving Dinner Greeting Card
Price: $5.95
So Happy So Thankful Letterpress Stationery Set
Price: $17.95
So Beary Thankful Thank You Card Set
Price: $12.95
Handcrafted Gobble Till You Wobble Thanksgiving Card
Price: $6.95
Price: $5.25
LEAVES THANKSGIVING CARD FOR FRIEND
Price: $4.25
MINI THANKSGIVING CARDS, 24-COUNT
Price: $4.99
Price: $13.25
Price: $6.34
Price: $3
Price: $3.50
Pumpkin pie stationary/ Thanksgiving themed card
Price: $3.50
Pumpkin themed stationary/ pumpkin card/ Autumn themed card
Price: $3.50
Funny Thanksgiving Cards
Piece, Love and Whipped Cream Thanksgiving Card
Price: $2.99
Turkey Has Spoken Thanksgiving Card
Price: $3.69
Picky Pilgrim Eaters Funny Thanksgiving Card
Price: $3.49
Two Turkeys Surprise Funny Thanksgiving Card
Price: $3.49
Thankful for You and Wine Funny Thanksgiving Card
Price: $3.29
Maxine™ Bird Butt Funny Thanksgiving Card
Price: $3.69
Turkey in Disguise Thanksgiving Card From Secret Pal
Price: $2
Peanuts® Snoopy Parade Balloon Funny Thanksgiving Card
Price: $2.99
Eat, Nap, Repeat Thanksgiving Card
Price: $3.49
Stuffed With Love and Fun Funny Thanksgiving Card
Price: $2.99
How to Make a One-of-a-kind Thanksgiving Card
In case you feel like making something truly special and one-of-a-kind, you might be interested in making a custom card by yourself. As a matter of fact, creating a fancy greeting card is not that difficult and you can totally do that even if you don’t have any experience in printed design. All you need for creating your custom cards is Adobe Photoshop (or any other graphic editor you prefer to use), some lovely Thanksgiving graphics, and some time. Once you complete your beautiful cards, you can easily print them out in your local printing service. You can also order custom greeting cards on such resources as Print Place, Max Card, or any other service that is available in your area.
So if you are planning on making some custom cards, you are definitely going to be interested in these gorgeous Thanksgiving designs.
10 Cute Thanksgiving Designs
1. Set of funny thanksgiving turkey in flat design Premium Vector
Price: available with Premium Freepik License
2. Flat design thanksgiving background with leaves Premium Vector
Price: available with Premium Freepik License
Price: available with Premium Freepik License
4. Happy Thanksgiving lettering badges collection Premium Vector.
Price: available with Premium Freepik License
5. Autumn. Happy Thanksgiving cartoon character and objects. Premium Vector
Price: available with Premium Freepik License
Price: available with Premium Freepik License
7. Thanksgiving hand drawn set by Engravector shop
Price: $6
8. Thanksgiving autumn clipart by WonderWonder
Price: $8
9. Mega Thanksgiving Bundle, 175+ by Prettygrafik Design
Price: $6
10. Thanksgiving sketch illustrations by Natalya Levish
Price: $15
Printable Thanksgiving Designs
Thanksgiving – Hand Drawn Icons by Good Stuff No Nonsense
Price: $14
Thanksgiving Day. Autumn. Fall by Kate Macate
Price: $10
Vector Happy Thanksgiving Design
Price: $3 – $12
Chalkboard Thanksgiving Design Elem
Price: $3 – $12
Colorful thanksgiving design elements isolated on white
Price: $3 – $12
Price: $3 – $12
Vector Thanksgiving Background
Price: $3 – $12
Vector Thanksgiving Background
Price: $3 – $12
Thanksgiving Leaves Background stock illustration
Price: $9.99
Thanksgiving Cards 03 stock illustration
Price: $9.99
Universal Thanksgiving Designs
Happy Thanksgiving stock illustration
Price: $9.99
Thanksgiving Autumn Frame Message Background stock illustration
Price: $9.99
Universal Art Templates_06 stock illustration
Price: $9.99
Thanksgiving Cards 06 stock illustration
Price: $9.99
Hand drawn Happy Thanksgiving lettering typography poster
Price: available with Shutterstock subscription
Autumn seasonal posters with autumn leaves and floral elements in fall colors
Price: available with Shutterstock subscription
Price: available with Shutterstock subscription
Thanksgiving traditional symbols. Hand drawn design elements, illustrations, handwritten lettering
Price: available with Shutterstock subscription
Thanksgiving holiday greeting card with maple leaf. Vector illustration
Price: available with Shutterstock subscription
Thanksgiving elements on orange background
Price: available with Shutterstock subscription
How to Sell Your Cards and Other Graphics
In case you are an experienced designer who creates beautiful Thanksgiving graphics and not only, you no doubt will be interested in the Sell Your Deal service by MasterBundles. The service allows both young and experienced designers to sell their products such as web templates, WordPress themes, fonts, clipart, illustrations, patterns, postcards, and many other graphics on a reliable and legit marketplace.
As a matter of fact, MasterBundles’ vendors get up to 50% of the value of their products and receive regular payments on their Payoneer accounts. The amount of money you make depends on the sales rates of your products. Therefore, the more products people purchase – the more money you get. Luckily, the marketplace takes all the marketing and promotion responsibilities, so the sales rates are always decent. In order to become one of our beloved vendors, just sign up and upload your first products using the form below now.
Wrapping Up
Not only is Thanksgiving the first American holiday but also the most popular holiday among Americans of all ages. Indeed, Thanksgiving is a perfect occasion to have a family reunion as well as thank fate, God, and your loved ones for everything good that has happened to you during the year over a festive dinner. At the same time, it’s very sad when some family members who live far away can’t make it to the holiday dinner. Luckily, you can send those relatives some sweet Thanksgiving cards in order to show them that you still love them and care about them. So take a look at the gorgeous cards and designs that we mentioned above one more time, select the ones you liked the best, and send some greeting cards to your loved ones this Thanksgiving.
How are you going to celebrate Thanksgiving this year? Share your plans with our friendly community in the comment section down below!
Q&A Session To Sum Up
When is Thanksgiving celebrated in 2020?
This year, Thanksgiving is celebrated on November 26, so make sure to take a day off in order to be able to spend this day with your family.
How much a Thanksgiving greeting card cost?
As you might have already noticed from our list, on average, a greeting card costs about $5.
Where can I purchase Thanksgiving Day greeting cards?
You can get the cards in your local supermarket, stationery store, post office, or order from Amazon. In fact, there is a lot of places that offer greeting cards, so you shouldn’t have problems finding them.
Are there any free options?
Yes, there are, you can look for freebies on such platforms as Greeting Island. But note that you can only get digital cards for free. In case you would like a printed version, you are going to have to pay for it.
What do I write on a Thanksgiving card?
Usually, People write their thanks for everything good that has happened to them to the people they give the cards. Some people also make specific wishes or even make short poems, so don’t be afraid to be creative.
How to make homemade Thanksgiving cards?
You can easily make a lovely Thanksgiving card by yourself. All you have to do is to get some Thanksgiving clip art, backgrounds, and/or illustrations, and easily make a card using Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, or any other graphic editor you prefer to use. Once you are done with that, you can print your cards out at home or in your local printing service. In case you are an artist, you can also draw a hand-made card.
How to express gratitude on Thanksgiving?
As a rule, families get together over a festive dinner and simply share the things they are grateful for with their loved ones. Basically, there are not any specific rules for that, except the tradition to do that over Thanksgiving dinner.
What is an example of a good Thanksgiving card?
My personal favorites are Floral Pumpkins Thanksgiving Card, Sparkle Autumn – Thanksgiving Card, and Cute Squirrel Long-Distance Hello Thanksgiving Card.
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As usual, I do my research before I start working on any article and, obviously, I end up having a pretty long list of references. Therefore, this time I utilized the following recourses:
- Ashrose, Cara. The Very First Americans. Grosset & Dunlap, Illustrated Edition, 1993.
- Bierut, Michael. How to Use Graphic Design to Sell Things, Explain Things, Make Things Look Better, Make People Laugh, Make People Cry, and (Every Once in a While) Change the World. Harper Design, Illustrated Edition, 2015.
- Kidd, Thomas S. American History, Combined Edition: 1492 – Present. B&H Academic, Combined Edition, 2019.
- Loewen, James W. Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong. The New Press, Illustrated Edition, 2018.
- McKenzie, Robert Tracy. The First Thanksgiving: What the Real Story Tells Us About Loving God and Learning from History. IVP Academic, Illustrated Edition, 2013.
- Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States. Harper Perennial Modern Classics, Reissue Edition, 2015.
Disclosure: MasterBundles website page may contain advertising materials that may lead to us receiving a commission fee if you purchase a product. However, this does not affect our opinion of the product in any way and we do not receive any bonuses for positive or negative ratings.
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