A few older friends have secluded themselves for the next few days, writing Christmas notes to a long list of friends. Others, mostly younger, think of hand-writing cards as a virtuous and charming idea in theory, but too "spectrum-hopping" for their lifestyle.
Will you be sending out hand-written notes in the next month?
- Yes, longer notes
- Yes, a sentence or two on holiday cards
- No
**Final Results **
WILL YOU BE SENDING OUT HAND-WRITTEN NOTES IN THE NEXT MONTH?
124 (24%)
|
283 (55%)
|
100 (19%)
|
51 comments:
Yes, longer handwritten notes on engraved stationery. They often mean more than Christmas gifts to the recipients.
This is a tiny bit off topic, but I am not a fan of the generic "Christmas Letter" that is filled with bragging and competitive grandstanding. Some are great - honest and interesting - but for every good one, I receive ten bad examples. This seems like one of those things that have creeped up over the years.
A sentence or 2 on a card for the most part. Longer for certain people. I regularly send handwritten correspondence every week and I'm in my 30s.
A few sentences on holiday cards. A photo of my kids enclosed for relatives that always ask for them.
Let's just say I could be keeping Crane in business for another year.
I've got nifty personal stationery and could use it. I also could put together a little "year in review" with my Christmas cards. . . but on reflection, I realized I hated these kinds of things because they are impersonal. (And of course they always sound as though one is either patting himself on the back, or boasting, or doing the Extreme Boosterism stuff).
So I think of a few words to say on the Christmas card itself. Frohliche Weihnacten!
No.
Muffy, Who makes that letter opener?
No, not until I learn good penmanship.
@SCP - The letter opener is made by Waterford.
I will only send longer notes to a couple of very elderly relatives who would appreciate them and whom I don't see often. I am in my 20s and frankly can't imagine, at this point in life, sending paper notes out to friends--both because it seems like something one does after getting married and producing offspring, and because thanks largely to technology I am in regular contact with nearly everyone with whom I want to be in contact. I can certainly imagine doing so after establishing a professional network, however.
I agree with those who have mixed feelings about some long, often mass-produced, Christmas card notes. Based upon the content of these greetings, one would believe that one's friends' and relatives' lives consisted solely of fabulous vacations, professional achievements, and scholastic successes (and posing in harmonious outfits).
I will be sending handwritten notes. I enjoy looking for just the right card/stationery for each recipient (Crane and Lobird are typical sources), and it is one of my favorite things to do at Christmas. I agree with Mr Rowe that these are often treasured gifts for recipients -- I know they are for me when I receive them.
I love the tradition of Christmas Cards with a handwritten note. Nothing infuriates me more than a pre-printed card with no note - not even a sentence - from a bridesmaid or someone who was a best friend at one time. That said, I don't send them to everyone - just those that I don't talk to often via phone/facebook.
I enjoy send notes... even if there are short updates on events of the past year. I also use vintage fountain pens to write with -- it's just better.
I did last year. I sent out 200 hand written, thoughtful cards and included a magnet with our professionally done photo in front of a red carpet media wall at our favorite charitable cause with a 12 month calendar on it and something sweet and joyous and motivating written on it... I will not be doing that again. It took two weeks and it was well received... but I will be doing 30 of them this year for our closest friends and family and those that wrote back how much they enjoyed it last year. #IDontKnowWhatIWasThinking
We enjoy short notes on ordinary Christmas cards rather more than annual letters, which always seem a little impersonal. However, one of our most treasured cards was the one that came from my mother-in-law's childhood penpal. She lived in The Netherlands. The card was in Dutch with handwritten notes in very good English. But if she still lives, she would be about 90 and we haven't received one in a couple of years.
For our part, however, my wife handles those things and I have no idea what she does.
Fijne feestdagen!
Some longer notes, some shorter ones, always with a fountain pen.
sending handwritten ones with my fountain pen.
Hi Muffy,
I will be sending many handwritten notes bucause we enclose a handwritten thank you note with every order we ship!
Hope you are having a nice Holiday Season - Tiffany
www.bestgear.com
I'll be sending out handwritten notes, on handmade cards and stationery, written with colorful artists Stabilo pens. I'm in my 20's, and I've been a "snail mail" girl forever...my friends adore it. I send letters even to those I am in regular contact with through other means - there is nothing better than getting a handwritten, personal letter in the mail, particularly one that is colorful and beautifully written and designed. So much better than email.
I prefer to go to one of the larger Hallmark stores in our area and purchase all of their foreign language Christmas Card inventory and then pen inside each card something pithy like "Doesn't this just say it all at this time of year". Then I mail them to all of my relatives in the hope that they will all once again leave me alone.
Yes, I write and send handwritten notes year 'round, though I do not send Christmas greeting cards. Am always on the search for distinctive papers to have marked with my initials.
-Flo
@Ferd:
Amazing.
We send hand-written notes several times per week year round. A "thanks" after a meal or a note by email just doesn't cut it. Children should also not be exempt from this. I'm well in the minority, because I write letters to relatives and friends steadily throughout the year, and I enjoy it. It also helps that my wife has great taste in stationery, so there is always a supply ready. I think I'm sounding self-righteous.
Writing notes on Christmas cards is absolutely one of my very favorite holiday rituals. We always enclose a candid photo of the kids so friends and family near and far can keep track of them.
I relish the conversations that ensue when we open cards with notes and photos from our friends because they spark fond memories and stories we never hesitate to share with our parents and our kids.
Does anyone remember those gigantic sample books of Christmas cards???? My mom would lug them home to peruse at her leisure. I trace my stationery addiction to those!
Every year we design our own card and have a local printer produce them for us. We write a personal note to each recipient...some messages are longer than others. We have found that people truly do appreciate them.
Yes, longer notes. I am lucky to have a wonderful store in my neighborhood, Oblation Papers & Press, which makes their own paper and hand presses on antique presses. Gorgeous papers and one of a kind gifts. Once a week I write a minimum of five Thank You cards, more if I having a bit of a "pity party" that week to reinforce a perspective of active thankfulness in my life. Admittedly, it can be hard some weeks to find even five things to be thankful for, but the reward is astounding. People are genuinely touched and often surprised to receive a well-composed, sincere sentiment expressed on quality paper. If you have not done so, try it regularly. Truly the joy is in the giving. Thank you for posting Muffy. I am thankful for your sharing your marvelous perspectives and continual support of US American craftspeople and their wares. I would love an update of your classic "companies on my radar" post.
From a very young age, my brother and I were taught to always send thank you notes, and to sign our own cards that were sent/given to friends and family members. I continue this tradition and enjoy writing personal notes inside of holiday cards. I keep a variety of Christmas cards on hand for the various demographic of recipients. 'Tis the season! Enjoy! --Holly in PA
I like the fact that the Mercers include a business card with a hand-written thank you note when they ship out their shirts, and that at O'Connell's they add a hand-written word or two on the receipt.
I enjoy sending and receiving handwritten cards, like most people. (NOT the generic Christmas letter - those are hideously self-serving.) But, as someone in my 20s, it can be incredibly difficult to keep track of even my closest friends' addresses -- People move frequently, especially in Boston, New York, etc. It has an unfortunately deleterious effect on handwritten correspondence.
@Ferd: I have no idea whether or not your post was meant to be humourous, but I smiled just the same. I finally got my act together this year and drew my own cards. I usually write a short message and I really enjoy sitting down and writing them. I do not enjoy the obnoxious pre-printed Christmas "Letter" that a few of my friends have been sending with an intimate blow by blow of their past year. It's often way too much information and not personal at all. A hand written sentence is for more meaningful to me.
"Sarte" those are good points. It's amazing how cold and alienating much business is. . . sometimes with companies thinking that HAVE to be cold in order to "look professional."
(Now Muffy, there's a topic for the Daily Prep: "what does it mean to LOOK PROFESSIONAL"?)
Muffy,
I always write a few lines of good wishes on every Christmas card, with longer notes to those friends and relatives who I don't see regularly. I detest Christmas cards with the sender's pre-printed name inside. It essentially tells the recipient that the sender is too busy to write a personalized greeting.
-RJR
Yes, longer notes.
Yes, longer for some, and a short, handwritten note for others on a small holiday card. I started buying Caspari cards in high school (40+ years ago), and I've remained a loyal fan. It's also the only time of year I use one of my fountain pens; I enjoy the ritual immensely, and my friends appreciate the gesture.
My older family members and a few close friends will get cards from us with a picture or two of our daughter.
I really love Crane stationary, but I may stop by the art museum for cards this year.
Writing to add that whatever your position on this issue, I think that no one should do what Chris Dodd did this year, which is to send a card to friends and close business associates that isn't even hand-signed, but rather with a printed copy of his signature.
Any thoughts about cards that have a photo printed on the front? They seem to be standard for young families, but I am conflicted about it.
I have engraved stationary that I use on a regular basis for regular correspondence, thank you notes, and holidays. I am 26 years old and have been doing this for years. Since the age of 12 or so my mother and I would sit down and write Christmas cards together and that sort of ritual has carried over into my adult life. One of the simple joys in life is receiving a piece of mail handcrafted in nature, simple in form, and sincere in purpose.
Yes, longer notes. Also, I am 27 if that makes any difference! I have always enjoyed writing letters.
A few long notes, many notes with just a few sentences. I've done the Christmas letter, with annotations for specific people, but I gave it up years ago.
Random question for you Muffy: do you think men can wear scarves outside of business occasions? I sometimes think it looks a bit feminine. I see very few men wearing scarves in my area.
I sent out hand written notes all the time. I use email, but I also like writing on good stationery with a fountain pen and do so very often.
@Anonymous 10:14 - Yes, but I think of a scarf as more of a utilitarian item not unlike gloves and a hat. It can add a great deal of warmth. I don't believe a wool tartan scarf looks feminine. We wear many different tartan wool scarves from some family tartans to the much maligned Burberry cashmere scarf.
In response to LG's question, I personally like the photo cards the most and they are the ones I always keep. Pictures seem to convey so much more than words.
I always send handwritten thank-you notes.
I kind of like photo cards too, since they can be kept. I think next year our family will send out a photo card with photos of all the Christmas gingerbread houses we've made over the years.
Yes short notes on letterpress cards to family and friends. No to business aquantances that don't fit in the former category. Pictures of the kids for grandparents, aunts/uncles and godparents.
I will definitely be writing some notes with a few short sentences, and then some with paragraphs. I enjoy getting letters in the mail, no matter how small and I believe everyone else does too.
It is somewhat unusual for me to get replies from people my age though, I am 16 and most of my peers resort to texting back.
I will write shorter notes for most people receiving Christmas Cards and letters for three dear friends along with the cards.
I'll write a few cards (with fountain pens if the paper is cooperating). I've tempered my enthusiasm over the years since my cohort doesn't tend to send cards.
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