Denver designer unveils range of birthday cards with positive messages about getting older after claiming 'Damn, you're old' type rivals are driving the elderly into an early grave

• A Denver-based stationary designer has claimed ‘ageist’ birthday cards can take years off people’s lives
• Jan Golden, 62, is the creator of the Age-Friendly Vibes greeting card line
• She cited a Yale study which found that older people with positive self-perceptions of aging live longer

A greeting card designer has created an ‘age-friendly’ birthday card company and claims that cards joking about old age take years off people’s lives.

Jan Golden, 62, is the creator of the Age-Friendly Vibes greeting card line – a Denver based company that sells birthday cards with anti-ageism messages.

Golden claims that the classic ‘damn, you’re old’ style of birthday cards is not only ‘ageist’ – but can even make those who receive such cards die earlier.

‘Have you gotten one of those cards that says, ‘You’re one step closer to the sweet release of death. Happy birthday!’?’ Golden told the Wall Street Journal. ‘That stuff just picks away at older adults.’

She cited a 2002 study on aging and attitudes to prove her point that the pessimistic greeting cards are killing elderly people.

Jan Golden, 62, is the creator of the Age-Friendly Vibes greeting card line – an Atlanta based company that sells birthday cards with anti-ageism messages

The 62-year-old launched her ‘age-positive’ card line in 2020 after working with elderly people to train them to use technology

The study was led Yale School of Public Health professor Becca R. Levy who found that ‘older individuals with more positive self-perceptions of aging, measured up to 23 years earlier, lived 7.5 years longer than those with less positive’ ones.

Golden is winding down her career as a web developer and iPhone trainer, and ramping up her ‘dream job’ of creating a stationery business.

The 62-year-old launched her ‘age-positive’ card line in 2020 after working with elderly people to train them to use technology.

‘Unfortunately, in many cultures, birthdays are a target for feeding fear about getting older,’ Golden wrote in an Instagram post.

‘Look at the greeting card aisle, and you’ll see many creative ways we are reminded of how awful it is to get older,’ she added.

Golden started a #NotAfraidOfMyBirthday campaign to combat ageism. ‘The good news is you can change how you feel about aging and reap the benefits of an age-positive mindset, especially on your birthday,’ she said.

‘I know birthdays get worse as you get older… but look on the bright side – not many left now!’

‘At least you’re not as old as you will be next year,’ another ageist card read.

Another card featured a sketch of a Zimmer frame and joked ‘your chariot awaits… happy birthday!’

Meanwhile – Golden’s cards feature more uplifting messages about growing older, such as ‘lucky for you I love older people.’

‘Celebrating you never gets old,’ another read.

‘The good news is you can change how you feel about aging and reap the benefits of an age-positive mindset, especially on your birthday,’ Golden said

Golden started a #NotAfraidOfMyBirthday campaign to combat ageism

The 62-year-old stationary designer wanted to change the narrative surrounding getting older and birthdays

Golden even made age-friendly holiday cards – with messages like ‘joy to the world for all ages.’

Golden claims that the classic ‘damn, you’re old’ style of birthday cards is not only ‘ageist’ – but can even make those who receive such cards die earlier

A survey of over half a dozen seniors at the Lakeview Center for Active Aging in Black Mountain, North Carolina, found that the seniors themselves didn’t mind poking fun at their age.

‘I don’t mind poking fun at it, and I’m up there,’ says Bill Sandin, 76, as he enjoyed his meatloaf at lunch. ‘You need a sense of humor when you’re our age. I think the funnier the better.’

While many of the interview subjects defended the playful cards, Sandy Pressley, 71, said she was a fan of the more positive age-affirming cards.

‘I’ve thought about that before: why [card options] weren’t more encouraging to older people and saying, ‘Yeah, like a fine wine, you’re getting better each year’ or something like that.’

Sara Breindel is a co-director of Changing the Narrative, a Denver-based anti-ageism advocacy organization.

She encouraged artists to ‘design cards that countered the usual depressing narrative about getting older as part of her Anti-Ageist Birthday Card Campaign in 2020.

The campaign was so successful that it was organized again in January 2023.

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