TBT: Greetings, Ladies

When Lew Alessio wanted to buy a greeting card for his husband that carried a romantic message, but did not use straight couples, gross sex jokes, or bathroom humor, he realized there was a paucity of charming gay greeting cards.

After Alessio's five years as Director of the Men's HIV Prevention Program for the National Center for Disease was done he followed his intuition and created In Your Own Words. When they took their product to the National Stationery Show the beat out big names like Hallmark and Cranes to be voted Best New Product of 2012.

They have stayed small, marketed their product carefully, and keep expenses low leaving more room for income for their employees. In fact, you can only buy them in selected stores, and you can get a list from their web site.

The cards are printed on 100% recycled paper and the printers are run solely on wind power. The cards span from the 1850s to the 1950 and there are over 80 images available now.