Celebrations with Clay Aiken and Family

NEW: Beautiful birthday montage for Parker from SueReu
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Clay Aiken has officially announced the National Inclusion Project is now the new name for the Bubel/Aiken Foundation.

Congratulations Clay, Diane Bubel and all your team.
Here's to continued success and growth in your voice for inclusion!

"Inclusion is giving people their rightful opportunity to participate.
We work every day to make full inclusion a reality."

See the new web page here:

National Inclusion Project




photo of Clay Aiken and Diane Bubel from the National Inclusion Project website

An Open Letter from the Founders Clay Aiken and Diane Bubel

YouTube video: National Inclusion Project

Clay Online Official Fan Club

Happy First Birthday to Parker

August 8

The Origin of Birthday Cards
by Sherry Horton Blake The Origin of Birthday Cards

"Happy Birthday." Birthday cards make us smile. It gives us a nice feeling to know that someone has taken the time to recognize our birthday.

Have you ever wondered how the tradition of giving birthday cards got started? Actually, the history of birthday cards is difficult to unravel. We might find a clue, though, if we look at the beginning of birthday celebrations. It is reasonable to assume that once calendars came into use, people began to recognize birthdays, at least birthdays of royalty. However, birthday greetings were most likely exchanged in person, or in the case of royalty, gifts may have been left outside the palace gates.

In the middle ages, the "birthday party" came into being. Because
it was widely believed that evil spirits were attracted to people on their birthday, friends and family would gather at the person's house to surround them with good thoughts and good things (gifts). Eventually, birthdays progressed to being a happier occasion, and in England, people began to bring cakes in which they had hidden small trinkets, rings, etc. It is likely that handwritten birthday greetings also started at this time.

To determine the history of the actual birthday "card," it is important to look at the history of greeting cards overall. In ancient China, handwritten Chinese New Year wishes were exchanged, and in ancient Egypt, greetings were exchanged on bits of papyrus. However, the oldest known greeting "card," which was hand-made, was a Valentine's Day card dating from the 1400's in England. This Valentine is now in the British Museum. Greeting cards found more popularity in the 1800's because, with the advent of the postage stamp, cards could be sent fairly inexpensively.
In fact, they became so popular that some were assembled in factories. These featured black and write pictures painted by the factory workers.

Esther Howland, considered the mother of greeting cards, sold hand-made Valentines in the 1840's. Christmas cards made their appearance in 1843. In 1856, the first American greeting card company came into existence. It was started by Louis Prang, a German immigrant. He produced Christmas cards. The best known greeting card company is probably Hallmark, started by Joyce C. Hall whose first office was a room at the YMCA. By 1915, Hall Brothers was manufacturing greeting cards (including birthday cards) in its own plant. In the 1930's, the use of color lithography led to a significant increase in the popularity of greeting cards.

In summary, the tradition of birthday greetings is probably as old as the advent of the calendar, but the actual birthday card likely had its origin in the early 1900's. Regardless, though, of how the birthday card business started, it is now "big business," as people everywhere like to be recognized on their birthdays.

More interesting birthday history here:
Birthday Traditions







When I was little, I looked forward to my birthday cake. My favourite was angel food, and it would have pennies, nickels and one dime wrapped in wax paper throughout the cake. Somehow I always got the piece with the dime in it!
How those coins got in the cake was a mystery for many years.











Do you have any family traditions for your birthday celebrations?
It would be fun to see them in your comment!

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