# "We're Moving" announcement cards are obsolete, apparently **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 22, 2013, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-moving-announcement-cards-are-obsolete-apparently/674543 "2013-11-22T17:32:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-moving-announcement-cards-are-obsolete-apparently/674543/21 "2013-11-23T02:52:35Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Does anyone get “a lot of” private mail any more? No, but most of the people who are saying they’ve never heard of moving cards are plenty old enough to remember when a lot of mail was much more common. But we still get plenty of wedding invitations, birth announcements, Christmas cards and other personal correspondence. On second thought, yes. We do get a lot of personal mail. Even my kids get a ton of birthday party invitations. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-moving-announcement-cards-are-obsolete-apparently/674543/22 "2013-11-23T03:27:41Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > We made our own. I sketched a picture of the new house and we had cards printed up to send to friends, mostly those on our Christmas card list. You still send Christmas cards? ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-moving-announcement-cards-are-obsolete-apparently/674543/23 "2013-11-23T03:44:48Z")
Last time I moved I ordered cards from [Snapfish.com](http://Snapfish.com), got a cute picture of my daughter in a cardboard box printed beside our new address details, and sent them off. I don’t think they’ve disappeared, just changed form to something customised and unique. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-moving-announcement-cards-are-obsolete-apparently/674543/24 "2013-11-23T03:46:09Z")
P.s. Snapfish have print at home designs that are free. Just buy the cardstock to print them on. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-moving-announcement-cards-are-obsolete-apparently/674543/25 "2013-11-23T04:15:54Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > This board never ceases to amaze me. We get them in the mail from our friends all the time, and have for my entire life. I know we’re a little more formal in the South, but wow. Never even _heard_ of them? Yep, gotta be regional. I’m 36 and I’ve never heard of them either. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-moving-announcement-cards-are-obsolete-apparently/674543/26 "2013-11-23T04:20:34Z")
Possibly. We’re about the same age, for what it’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-moving-announcement-cards-are-obsolete-apparently/674543/27 "2013-11-23T09:25:51Z")
I’m 54 yrs old and, in the greeting card context, I’ve never heard of them either. When we move we always use the post office change of address process. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-moving-announcement-cards-are-obsolete-apparently/674543/28 "2013-11-23T11:29:27Z")
When I was still in the Navy, I’d send snail mail to friends and family when I’d move - that would bring me up to the mid-80s. For a few years after that, I’d use Christmas cards to send our new address, or we’d tell our parents and they’d share among the relatives. Our last 2 moves - in 2000 and 2004 - were announced via email to some and Christmas cards to others. And in all the years of me or my friends moving, in or out of the Navy, I never received a card specifically designed to tell me someone’s new address. Interesting concept… ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-moving-announcement-cards-are-obsolete-apparently/674543/29 "2013-11-23T22:31:36Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Does anyone get “a lot of” private mail any more? No, so preserving or facilitating what I still get is important to me. When my cousin moved a year or so ago she designed her own card on tinyprints or shutterfly and mailed them out. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-moving-announcement-cards-are-obsolete-apparently/674543/30 "2013-11-26T04:44:00Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > In the meantime, a lot of mail goes to the wrong address. Well, sure, but that’s irrelevant, as the post office will forward it. And then you know that said person doesn’t know your new address. The real problem is people who _don’t_ mail you during the transition period. Those are the people you have to make sure to inform. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-moving-announcement-cards-are-obsolete-apparently/674543/31 "2013-11-26T07:07:58Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > Who sends personal mail anymore? I can’t remember the last time I got a ‘letter’ delivered (that is, not a power-bill, an invitation to increase my c/c limit or to double my Frequent Flyer points, a bit of glurge from my local Member of Parliament or the routine Reader’s Digest flim-flam telling me I’m a WINNER) > > Oh my, I miss the good old days when going to the letterbox was actually exciting! This is why I have an ongoing postcard exchange with some of my friends from when we were at uni. Nothing like going to the letterbox and seeing a postcard from Stockholm or Hong Kong or Geneva or whichever exotic locale one of them has been to recently. 🙂 Sadly, I haven’t been anywhere more exotic than New Zealand recently, but one day I too will send postcards to my friends from Darjeeling or Havana or Dar-Es-Salaam and then [del]Zoidberg[/del] I will be the popular one! 😛 But yes, I agree, I remember getting actual mail from relatives overseas as a kid - it was always exciting when you’d see an envelope with a London postmark on it from Aunty So-and-So. And to address (badum-tish!) the OP, I’ve never heard of the concept of “relocation cards” but I can see how they might have been a thing back in the days when international phone calls required NASA’s co-operation. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-moving-announcement-cards-are-obsolete-apparently/674543/32 "2013-11-26T14:43:30Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Well, sure, but that’s irrelevant, as the post office will forward it. And then you know that said person doesn’t know your new address. > > The real problem is people who _don’t_ mail you during the transition period. Those are the people you have to make sure to inform. They only forward for a fixed period of time, so I’m not sure what your point actually is. Plus, I have no idea who is or isn’t going to mail me something over the next 6 months. And forwarded mail takes longer. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-moving-announcement-cards-are-obsolete-apparently/674543/33 "2013-11-26T17:38:57Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > And to address (badum-tish!) the OP, I’ve never heard of the concept of “relocation cards” but I can see how they might have been a thing back in the days when international phone calls required NASA’s co-operation. No international phone calls to and from the U.S. before 1958? Perhaps you meant _didn’t_ require the co-operation of the NSA. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-moving-announcement-cards-are-obsolete-apparently/674543/34 "2013-11-26T18:30:57Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > They only forward for a fixed period of time, so I’m not sure what your point actually is. Plus, I have no idea who is or isn’t going to mail me something over the next 6 months. And forwarded mail takes longer. The USPS will forward mail for a change of address for a year. If you haven’t heard from someone in a year… And that also gives you the telling via Christmas card method. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-moving-announcement-cards-are-obsolete-apparently/674543/35 "2013-11-26T18:52:17Z")
> [@zweisamkeit](#): > > The USPS will forward mail for a change of address for a year. Theory vs. practice. If you get a month of mail forwarding, consider yourself very lucky. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-moving-announcement-cards-are-obsolete-apparently/674543/36 "2013-11-26T18:54:17Z")
> [@zweisamkeit](#): > > The USPS will forward mail for a change of address for a year. If you haven’t heard from someone in a year… And that also gives you the telling via Christmas card method. Either way, I’m going to have to tell those people that my address has changed, so I fail to see the point. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-moving-announcement-cards-are-obsolete-apparently/674543/37 "2013-11-26T19:21:36Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Theory vs. practice. If you get a month of mail forwarding, consider yourself very lucky. Not in my experience. I used it in 2009 and 2011; I got forwarded mail for at _least_ a year (I got a couple pieces at my current address definitely past the year mark, which was cool). I even got notification postcards reminding me that my mail forwarding would end in X weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-moving-announcement-cards-are-obsolete-apparently/674543/38 "2013-11-26T19:31:45Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Prior to 1996, how else would you have told a bunch of people about your new address? “Hi Grandma! Guess what? The SO and I are moving to [location]. I know, we’re very excited. _chat chat chat_ Bye!” Phone tree, activate! ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-moving-announcement-cards-are-obsolete-apparently/674543/39 "2013-11-26T21:23:10Z")
Yes, that would work if you only needed to notify family. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-moving-announcement-cards-are-obsolete-apparently/674543.md?page=1)