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NEXTnc Gift Guide: The art of giving - Holiday Gift Guide |
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Written by Erin Frustaci
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Thursday, 23 November 2006 |
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Page 3 of 8
 YES, SNAIL MAIL CARDS STILL POPULAR TO SEND
By Erin Frustaci
efrustaci@nextnc
Every year my mom would sit down at her antique wooden desk with her address book on one side of her and a box of angel cards on the other. She compiled an extensive list over the years of college roommates, childhood friends, co-workers from past jobs, distant relatives... and the list goes on. One by one she would write out personal notes in her distinctive cursive handwriting.
I wonder though, with all the free e-cards and e-mail at the touch of our fingertips, is the Christmas card a dying tradition? Most greeting card companies answer with a resounding “no.”
“People do still send Christmas cards,” Kristie Parks, manager of Hallmark at Centerra in Loveland. “I would probably say the age is 25 and up who send them.”
Hallmark introduced its first Christmas cards in 1915. Since then, Christmas has become the largest card-sending holiday in the United States, with about 2 billion cards sent every year, according to the Hallmark Web site.
Though some ambitious people have already started on their list, Parks said many purchase their cards the day after Thanksgiving.
“Thanksgiving weekend they go on sale, buy one box get one free,” she said.
And while e-greetings are nice little warm fuzzies, they have yet to replace the old fashioned card.
Parks said the company has a contemporary line of cards now that appeals to the younger crowd.
“They have good messages but are not the typical family Christmas card,” she said.
So, the styles may have evolved, but the basis is the same.
“Younger people who send them usually have parents who sent them,” Parks said.
As I picture my mom at her desk, I guess I will inevitably become a Christmas card sender.
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|  | "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth." | |
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I am a recent college graduate of Minnesota State University Moorhead. After recieving my B.A. in English and Mass Communications this past August I moved down to Colorado.
I enjoy long walks on the beach, candlelight dinners, and heavy metal. My hobbies include reading and writing, music, movies, and getting drunk. Some of my favorite contemporary authors include Bret Easton Ellis, Chuck Palahniuk, and Kurt Vonnegut. My top movies are anything directed by Kubrick. I enjoy listening to anything that rocks.
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| | My name is Michelle Turley and I'm 28 years old. I live in Severance with my hubbie, Brandon. We have 2 dogs and a cat. We enjoy camping, four-wheeling, and just being in the mountains. I like to cook, clean (go figure), flea market, and play poker. I have so much to say about poker... | |
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