Thursday, January 08, 2009

Thank You Notes in the Age of All Things Digital

I miss the pen-pals I had when I was a little kid. The excitement that would come when you got the letter in the mail. Sometimes there would be a surprise sticker or two stuck in the envelope with the letter. We'd write about our pets, siblings, parents, pool parties, favorite foods, anything. It was fun.

Nowadays, I might send a postcard or two during the summer. Maybe a letter here and there. A package once or twice a year. But when Christmas comes, and you've received all of the gifts from family, friends, co-workers, you send Thank You Notes. I'm kind of surprised this tradition hasn't yet died. Maybe it has and it's something only my family continues to do.

I went Thank You Note shopping today. I was surprised at how little stationary was available besides Hallmark type cards, not to mention how cheesy most of them were. I don't like to send cards with "Thank You" plastered all over the front of them. I think that defeats the purpose almost to open up a card that says "Thank You" when you already know who it's from and why they're sending it. It's easier to make it more personal when it doesn't say "Thank You" in a scripty font on the front of the card.

So, not finding what I needed at Barnes&Noble or Target, I turned to Etsy, and the search continues.

Is it nerdy to want to send the perfect stationary? Probably so.

Someday, probably with my generation's generation (our children's children), letter writing will die out. Handwriting will probably die out with it.

EDIT: I just bought some cards on Etsy that should just do the trick. :) The Cards

1 comment:

MooKooJoe said...

YAYZ! I'm not the only one who likes to use Etsy. Truly the greatest store on the internet, well maybe besides w00t.com

I have to disagree with our kid's generation being the end of handwriting, I just don't really see that happening. It will always be here I believe. Also, no matter who you are, there's always something about that personal touch.