holidays

Isolated by Pandemic, Americans Are Sending More Christmas and Holiday Cards to Stay in Touch

'Wish we were together' is the theme of the top-selling card this year, Hallmark Cards says

Bill Ward shops for greeting cards at the Hallmark store in Macys Plaza in Los Angeles on November
Glenn Koenig/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Ever since she was a child, Courtney Young loved signing and sending Christmas cards to family and friends. But as she got older and time became more precious, the number of cards she mailed each December dwindled. And last Christmas, Young said she mailed just 20 cards.

Then the pandemic hit.

“I expect to send out 150 to 200 cards this year, if not more,” Young, who is the head librarian at Colgate University in upstate New York, told NBC News. “I enjoy doing it. Actually, I’ve always enjoyed doing it. So I guess I am getting back to something that I used to do.”

She apparently has plenty of company.

“Our holiday sales are off to a strong start, further indicating the importance of meaningful connections in this unique year,” Lindsey Roy, chief marketing officer at Hallmark Cards, said in an email. “We’re seeing growth in our ornaments and gifts businesses so far, as well as early indicators that more people are buying and sending holiday cards this year.”

Their biggest selling card this season, she said, is a Christmas card that expresses a sentiment that millions of Americans cut off from the people they love can relate to, namely “wish we were together.”

Read the full story on NBCNews.com

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