By Sara Quam
It might be true that the art of writing a good letter is all but lost in today's world of instant messaging. At Christmastime, though, the greeting card and personal letter take on their old roles, reconnecting family and friends.
National research by Hallmark says 76 percent of Americans participate in the holidays by sending greeting cards. Of the 6 billion cards Americans send each year, cards are sent on Christmas more than any other occasion.
Locally, people have already started buying their cards and are getting ready to write letters and enclose pictures.
Laudon's Gifts and Collectibles in Luverne is the local Hallmark supplier. The store sees much of its busiest days during the Christmas shopping season. People have slowly started to get into the Christmas spirit there, and store managers said the holiday open house had a tremendous turnout two weekends ago.
As far as stuffing those cards with family pictures, local studios are busy filling orders.
Jim Juhl of Myhre Studio, Luverne, said it's not too late to have Christmas portraits taken this time of year.
But it's something people think about almost year round. "Generally, when people get a picture taken, they consider their Christmas cards," Juhl said.
Most of Myhre's customers order about 75 prints and include them with letters or send a photo as their seasonal greeting.
Juhl said that people with children are more likely to send photos to show off their families. When there's not a growing family to update friends with, photos are taken less frequently for Christmas cards.
An atypical Christmas photo is a sports portrait, but Juhl has seen a surge of those recently. He took pictures for hockey players, many of whom ordered prints to send at Christmastime.
Michele Kruse of Portraits by Michele, Adrian, has been getting Christmas card pictures ready since May.
"The big family pictures are by far the most popular, but IÕve done wedding and engagement photos for cards, too," she said.
In the case of not being able to send photos in time for Christmas, some families send them at an alternative time of year.
Getting hands on
Luverne's Sara Oldre has expanded the art of letter writing into creating her own cards. For about five years, sheÕs made greeting cards for many occasions and joined a stamping club to exchange the end results of her efforts.
"I made all my Christmas cards last year, and I'm planning on trying to do that again," she said.
With 2-year-old Knute in tow and a second baby on the way, Oldre finds time to create her cards whenever she can.
"Sometimes it's weeks or months before I get to it, but when I do, I spend a whole day with it," she said.
Oldre layers different materials on her stamped cards - corrugated cardboard, ribbon, paper and potpourri.
She got into the hobby almost accidentally. "I just had a lot of stuff to use and put it together," Oldre said.
What to send?
The first Christmas card in America was introduced in 1875 when German immigrant Louis Prang designed a Killarney rose card with the words "Merry Christmas" on it.
Virginia Smedsrud has been helping families print their letters and cards for about 20 years at the Announcer Press.
She says some customers include a simple note of greeting and others compile a year's summary in photos or tie in the letter to the year's news events.
To put together a Christmas letter, keep a few things in mind. In general, letters should be kept to a readable length in an easy-to-read typeface.
However, handwritten letters convey a certain intimacy that computer-printed ones don't. Handwriting can be copied onto decorative, holiday paper as well as the typed version.
Some say it's fun for letter readers to get specific stories or information rather than exclusively generic greetings. A blend of both works.
Some people find it annoying to read letters that come off as bragging, so it's important to check the phrasing to make sure the letter's tone is appropriate.
Also, letter writers are advised to jot down notes on what they want included in letters before they actually write them.