Holiday Greetings: Traditional, E-Cards or Facebook?

With so many options out there—traditional cards, Facebook greetings and e-cards—we wondered if people are still going the old-fashioned route when it comes to sending holiday greetings.

Hallmark reports Christmas is the largest card-sending holiday in the United States, with consumers mailing about 1.5 billion cards each year around this time.

The manager of a local Hallmark store, Sentiments at Springfield Mall, confirms this is her busiest time of the year. "We've been selling cards, wrapping paper and ornaments like crazy," Danielle McGee, a resident of Mason Neck, tells Patch. "But no matter how busy, we try to give each customer personalized service. I love my job and this is a positive environment to be in, especially this time of year."

Many customers have been telling McGee they still enjoy buying individual and boxed cards and enjoy adding their own special touches, instead of sending e-cards, she said.

In fact, said McGee, she said she believes she's selling more paper cards this year than last year. "We especially get a lot of customers from a nearby retirement community, and they still enjoy searching for the right cards."

She said Sentiments offers a 10 percent discount for qualifying seniors and military personnel.

Jaci Twidwell of Hallmark's corporate office tells Patch the company now offers more than 2,700 Christmas designs in paper cards. And to customize your cards, www.hallmark.com has more than 950 unique designs that can be customized with photos and personal messages. Hallmark says it will address, stamp and mail the cards for you; you only pay for the postage.

If saving time, money and the environment are a consideration these days, there’s the e-card option as well. Almost 300 million e-cards are sent each year.

Beware of Fraudulent E-Christmas Cards

But receiver beware. Hallmark warns a number of fraudulent e-mails with e-cards, some misusing the Hallmark name, have circulated this year. “These malicious e-card notices take a variety of forms, with different instructions designed to obtain access to your computer files,” according to a Hallmark press release.

A legitimate Hallmark e-card notification will include the name of the sender—not just "from a friend"—and a confirmation number. It will not include an attachment and will never ask for personal information. If you receive an e-card e-mail with any attachment, Hallmark says delete it immediately.

Paper vs. E-Cards: Paper Wins

But as reported by McGee locally, it looks like most folks still like the feel of a traditional card. Hallmark reports more than 20 paper cards are sent for every one e-card. And its individual and boxed cards are produced either on paper with 20 percent recycled fiber content, or on paper sourced from well-managed forests.

Here are the latest innovations from the company that’s been making Christmas cards since 1915:

• Postage-Paid Greetings, which already include postage, are available in 90 different designs. Just sign, seal and send, says Hallmark.
• A new kids’ card collection features popular cartoon characters and light with sound, 3-D glasses and bonus videos accessed through those quirky new web codes.
• Vertical Spin with Sound touts a character who spins to the music when opened.
• Fiber Optics with Sound has a new light feature.
• Alternative Activation and Sound with Motion cards move and play music when the recipient does something to activate it, such as pulling a string to make the bell ring and move.
• Push Button Motion with Sound activates at—what else? The push of a button.

Hallmark holiday cards can be found for just about everyone—from military service members to the doctor, postal carrier, school bus driver and yes, even for your hairdresser! In addition, this year's Mahogany line features Cards With Sound (three new gospel songs); the Sinceramente line features Spanish editorial with English translations on the back of the cards, bilingual messages and Spanish songs.