The History of the Invitation

There is a long history to the evolution of the Invitation as we know

it today. How did they arise? Who used them? How was a wording

composed? How were they delivered? What was the impact of the

printing press? Why do current invitations all appear to follow a

consistent style? Why is calligraphy so popular?

Knowing the history and the traditions behind the social invitation

will help you in your selection. You can then take exception to

current "standards" and still conform to socially accepted standards.

Or if you wish, you can create a new, unique invitation that will set

you apart from the norm yet still be in good taste.

Only for the Elite . . .

Invitations to social events were used by the aristocracy in England

and France probably beginning in the 18th century. It may be possible

to go back another hundred or two hundred years to find the

foundations which began the tradition of the invitation.

The Kings, Queens, Lords, Ladies, Dukes, Duchesses, or in today's

vernacular, "High Society" would invite their peers to their social

events with hand written announcements of the event. These were

written by the wife, butler, or secretary. Writing was a mark of

education. Even after the printing press, the aristocracy hand wrote

invitations since "mass production" would be in bad taste.

Calligraphy

In those days, society was not in a hurry, and most who could read

and write had excellent penmanship. Do you recall what the pen was

like as an early writing instrument? It was a quill made of a feather

with a carefully cut tip. As one wrote, while holding the pen in one

position, the characters that were formed were thin in one direction

and broad in the other. For example, a circle or 'o' might be thin at

the top and bottom and wide on the sides.

When you couple excellent penmanship with the writing instrument of

the day, handwriting, by today's standards, was a work of art.

The Wording

The actual wording was very similar to the 'socially correct'

wordings used today. The major difference was that the wording, in

most cases, included the name of the guest as part of the wording.

Everything was spelled out, including the event date and time.

Once written, each invitation was placed in a protective enclosure (a

handmade envelope). That 'envelope', what is now called the inner

envelope, would include the invitee's names (For example, "The Duke

and Duchess of Windsor"). When finished, a hot wax seal was affixed

to the envelope. (Wax seals often indicated the crest of the family.)

The Postal Service

Without any form of postal service, these invitations had to be hand

delivered. This was the task of one of the servants, on horseback,

under all weather conditions.

Thus arose the need for an 'outer' envelope. This outer envelope

served a dual purpose. It was used to protect the inner envelope from

water and dirt and to also provide directions to the recipients

estate, castle, or farm. In addition, there were no 'addresses'.

Thus, the 'inner envelope' was again wrapped or placed in an outer

envelope. The 'address' was often a set of directions something

like, "Go one days travel down the road to Chelsea. There, cross the

stone bridge and proceed past the three farms until you see the stone

entrance marked "Wesley". There, remove this covering, and give to

the doorman. Wait for a response and make note of same."

The Printing Press

The printing press appeared in Europe in the mid 13th century. Even

so, the printing of wedding or social invitations did not begin until

the start of the 20th century. Some of the elite, fascinated with

industrialization, began using 'mass produced' invitations probably

as either a novelty or simply as another expression of wealth.

The real beginning of the commercially printed wedding invitation

began in the United States probably after World War II. One or the

great features of the combination of democracy with industrialization

is to give the common man the ability to mimic the life-styles and

materialism of society's elite. About the same time, Amy Vanderbilt

and Emily Post appear on the scene to help correct the fumblings of

society.

The first appearance of the printed invitation was probably for large

events hosted by wealthy industrialists wishing to exploit 'new

technology'. Gradually, these factors coalesce to give you and I, an

affordable, commercially printed invitation.

The Tissue

Technological advances in the design of the printing press increased

the speed at which paper could be printed. Since printer's ink took

some time to dry, as each invitation was removed from the press, a

tissue was place over it so that the next invitation laid on top

would not pick up the ink from the one below.

One might ask why it became common place to send invitations with

this 'protective' tissue still in place. One could guess the answer.

Was it simply a mark to clearly show that the invitation was printed

using a new and fascinating technology . . . as opposed to the 'old

fashioned hand written' invitation? In any event, the inclusion of

the tissue continues to this day.

Raised Ink versus Engraving

Ordinary printing simply stamps ink rolled on lead type onto the

paper. It is a messy process and does not produce very high quality

lettering. Lithography, on the other hand, is a method of printing

which retains a very high quality replica of drawn or sketched

artwork. It produces very sharp and distinctive inking.

If you and I could afford ordinary printed invitations, then the

socially elite needed to distance themselves from such an

abomination. They then elected to have their invitations "engraved".

This served a second purpose. It permitted the printed invitation to

emulate hand writing since engraved copper plates were made by hand.

Engraving, as the name implies, requires an artisan to "hand write"

in reverse into a metal plate using a carving tool. To this day, the

finest invitations are engraved.

But today's engraving plates are made by first producing a

photographic plate of the wording using a typesetting machine. This

plate is then used to expose a sensitized copper plate which is then

acid etched. Movable lead type is replaced by computers with a wide

variety of lettering styles, called fonts. Some fonts even mimic

calligraphic lettering styles. So if you are upper-crust, your

invitations are engraved and printed on only the finest paper stock.

Us lesser folk, not to be outdone, again tried to mimic the quality

open only to the very wealthy. Along comes a cheap version of

engraving called Thermography or 'raised ink' printing. Unlike

ordinary printing, engraving actually cut the surface of the paper.

The print quality was beautiful and you could feel where the ink was

deposited because you could feel the slight cuts in the surface of

the paper. The thermography process, unlike engraving used ordinary

lead type washed with ink. When the printed paper is removed from the

press with wet ink, a plastic powder is sprayed on the wet ink and

then blown off. The plastic powder absorbs the ink color. The paper

is then heated until the plastic powder melts leaving a raised ink

which you can feel.

Three Dimensional Hand Made Invitations

To be complete, there is one more form of the invitation. This is a

custom invitation, hand made and assembled. Typically, these can be

three dimensional with multiple layers of paper, custom or hand-drawn

artwork, even with moveable layouts, pop-ups, or doors. (Such

invitations are often in the region of tens to hundreds of dollars

each.)

Mimic the Elite and Stick with Tradition

Now you know why there are inner envelopes and why there are tissues.

These are simply the traditional assets from the old days. Similarly,

envelope seals are the mass produced equivalent for replacing the hot

wax seal.

What is not so apparent is that raised ink is a cheap alternative to

engraving. But consider this, engraving was a less time consuming way

to mimic true handwriting.

If you want the finest invitations possible, you must purchase the

finest paper and hire an artist and a calligrapher. The artist will

personalize your invitation with a hand drawing on each. The

calligrapher will hand write your wording and address your envelopes.

Or are there New Technologies

What of the truly old fashioned, hand written invitation? You can see

that over the years, technology on has given you the ability to mimic

the old traditions. Else why would we stick with inners, outers,

tissues, envelope seals, raised ink, and engraving?

Consider this, while adhering to all the 'old stuff', the most

important aspect of the invitation has been ignored. Your invitation

is mass produced and is not directed to the recipient. Their name is

MISSING!!!

Today, you can go the full circle. You can print invitations each

including the Guest's name as part of the wording and you can do this

with your computer. Even better, while all the social experts tell

you to hand write those envelope addresses and to hand write the

Guest's name on the Respond Card, you can print all of these things

on your computer.

Is raised ink or engraving important? No, these were just

technological innovations. By printing your own, you are about as

close to truly following the original intent of the invitation as you

will ever be.

But wait . . . what about emailing those invitations? Sorry, that's

for people with no taste.