Last weekend while at Target I decided I had better pick up my holiday cards and start mailing them out, because by Thanksgiving I had already received a couple in the mail from friends. The thing was, I couldn't find them at first. I thought I was going crazy, and thought perhaps this year they had moved them to the greeting card & stationery section. I must have walked around the seasonal section of the store three times before I finally found them, in the very back corner, tucked in between the Hanukkah supplies and the Christmas lights.
I snapped this picture to show you because in past years Target's holiday card section used to be at least 2-3 times larger than this. Keep in mind that this picture makes the section look grander than it is, since the four main shelves in the middle section aren't boxed cards but "individual" greeting cards. Needless to say, I found the selection to be severely limited, and considered going elsewhere, but I ended up settling on one of their "green" (recycled paper stock) designs as I really wanted to start getting my cards out as soon as possible. When I got home and complained to my husband about the poor selection, he laughed at me and said "What do you expect? No one sends cards anymore; that's why the postal service is losing billions of dollars.Target must feel that their floor space is better filled with items that will be sure to sell vs. holiday cards."
He does have a point: fewer of my friends bother to send cards now, and I remember that the day after Christmas, Target would always have a ton of leftover cards on clearance. What do you think, readers? Are sending holiday cards a thing of the past, or do you still regularly send them (and like receiving them)?
8 comments:
I still send them and love receiving Christmas cards in the mail, but it's definitely true. Most people don't send kind greetings much anymore...mail or otherwise.
I think more people do the personalized photo cards these days. I haven't gotten a regular card in a long while, but that might be because everyone I know is having babies like crazy haha. And people without little kids don't send cards anymore, it def is a dying tradition, so sad.
I still love getting & sending cards! I get a ton every year. Most people do custom photo ones now though - from Shutterfly or Costco.
I really stocked up on post-xmas cards last year - just to be able to shut my desk drawer I need to send out to a large list this year and probably the next two years, too!
I just wrote most of mine yesterday. I love sending and receiving Christmas cards, but I must confess--I don't often buy store cards. I have my own photo cards printed. Maybe lots of other people do, too?
I am a freelancer working for up to 25 or 30 different agencies - some more often than others and many "mom & pop." I always send holiday cards to these business contacts and associates because I believe it's just old fashioned good business sense. In the last three years, I have actually MADE my cards. A couple times, I used clear Avery labels on cards from IKEA, and now I am making designs on PowerPoint and printing them at home on heavier shiny paper stock you might see in a wedding invite. The messages are very inside joke/industry specific - so people have like them. Saves me money too!
I send photo cards as do most of my friends and family.
I haven't sent Christmas cards in many many years, but I still receive them. so two years ago, Target had shelves of cards on clearance for 90% off and I bought a TON, like enough for the next 20 years (about 20 boxes). I sent about 5 last year, I still have a lot to go.
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