Maybe this requires some combination of region and generation? As a twenty-something form the Nawth, I (completely honestly) thought that we were 50-75 years past stationery being remotely common. Actually, I think it’s kind of cool, in a “things I would do if I were the lord of a manor” sort of way. This thread still seems really, really anachronistic to me, though.
See above
Will people think less of you? - some people, probably. Some people think less of me because I don’t carry expensive designer purses or drive an expensive German car. Some people are shallow that way.
I don’t think anyone is saying that stationary is common and personalized stationary is something EVERYONE has around. Think of those of us that do as fetishists. We can probably start a thread over in The Game Room about what sort of miniature system people like for D&D, doesn’t mean everyone has a house with a box of little plastic kobolds in it.
There is really nothing anachronistic about it. I can show you a drawer full of letters written on personalized stationary that my wife received when her parents passed away. They were sent by men and women of all ages, but the bulk of the senders were between 32 and 36.
My stationery is not monogrammed. It is white, with light blue ruled horizontal lines, and a light vertical red line which functions as the left margin – approximately 1-1/2 inch in from the left end of the page. There are three holes punched at regular intervals down the left edge of the page, to allow for easy storage in a personal binder. The rear of the page is similarly lined. The paper size is approximately 8-1/2 x 11 inches.
It can be bought in differing volumes at many fine stationery and grocery stores.
To every thing its place, I imagine. You’ve given me some reading material, if nothing else; while it may not be something I see as commonplace now, I could quite easily see a future ten years down the road where I want to add a little more class to Official Business. Then again, I almost passed out when I heard what my cousins spent on Proper Wedding Invitations . . .
(Navy on cream sounds pretty sweet though, I must say.)
I send Thank You notes when appropriate, but buy them at Hallmark. I don’t stay overnight at other people’s houses, and when somebody dies I send a sympathy card, also procured at Hallmark.
Those are really cute. Those are just notecards though. I have some of those I can use for thank you’s and such (not with cute monkeys). I thought you guys were talking about personalized letter papers and fancy stuff. I forgot too that I have a bunch of blank ones that I can customize with embellishments. I completely forgot about them because I have so little occasion to send such things. :smack:
Something tells me I’m watching too much of the Olympics; I saw the thread title and thought “Men’s Stationary” was an event.
We are talking about the personalized ones - but personalized notecards are just a style choice - like monkey stationary, or cards with naked babies on them.
The personalized cards mentioned above from American Stationers run less than $1 a card - that is a LOT cheaper than running to Hallmark.
(Crane’s is pricey. Engraved is pricey. You’d better be in LOVE with your typeface if you are going engraved. But if you just think a notecard with your name on it is cool, a box isn’t too expensive.)
Them’s fightin’ words. says the man with his own press
“Oh, that’s going to cost him the gold for sure, Dan.”
“Yes, I think you’re right, Nadia. He clearly wiggled a little bit just there at the fingertip. Sad news for this truly gifted competitor.”
I mean, the idea is it’s actually a million times easier to use letter sheets or folded cards or correspondence cards or whatever, because they don’t say “Thank You” or “Sorry Your Mom Died” on them. You just have them, and when you need them you write what you want to write on them. So it’s easier, more convenient, cheaper, and a lot more meaningful to the recipient. Why go to Hallmark every time you get a gift, or keep a “Hallmark wardrobe”, when you can just have some all purpose stuff around that’s also really classy? Like many points of etiquette, it really turns out to be simpler and cheaper in the long run.
ETA - additionally, there are a lot of social situations where, like it or not, you want to make a lasting (favorable) impression. Sending a note that coincidentally looks swank and has your name and maybe address on it to thank your client for inviting you to dinner? A good move. Of course, a carefully chosen notecard that isn’t personalized will also make a good impression, but one hopes that your name (in a memorable yet tasteful font) may stick.
I needed to get a thank you card for my kid’s baseball coach. It was coming from all the boys. Everyone had forgotten it, so I was short on time - Target’s selection, not the card shop. I was running to the store between games, no time to go home where I have a few blank cards for this purpose.
It was actually HARD to find an appropriate thank you card from a bunch of boys to their coach. Floral - nope. Sorta sexy - nope. Religious - nope. Cute - not that sort of cute, these are nine year old boys… I found something, and “my” notecards or house stationary wouldn’t have been better. But it brought home why having some plain general purpose cards around is nice.
Yeah, for that kind of situation it’s nice to have some stuff banging around that doesn’t even have your name. Those little monkey cards would have been perfect for that!
I like sending cards now and then, and my friends and family seem to like getting them. Awhile back I got a box for cards (I think it may’ve been from Target) with little dividers that say “Anniversary,” “Birthday,” “New Home,” “Congratulations,” “Condolences,” etc. I just buy some of each when I’m running low and put them in the right slots. With a good selection of blanks (art museums are a good place for these), I’m ready for just about any occasion.
Yes, I’m a card geek.
Listen y’all. Having stationery with your name on it is not particularly fancy or upper class. It’s just a niche thing.
Having engraved stationery with *your family crest * on it, that’s fancy and upper class (or stupid and nouveau riche). And yeah, that still happens.
Pork Rind–you and I can form a mutual admiration society and let the rest of these peanuts do what they want 
I write letters for thank you and sympathy notes. Not so many thank you notes for gifts – my friends aren’t very ‘gifty’ so I mostly get gifts from close family only and I thank them in person or on the phone. I do send thank you notes for favors, though, or for being entertained overnight or something. Plus the sympathy notes. I’d guess I send 4 to 6 formal letters/ notes a year.
I don’t have any personalized paper because I’m too cheap to buy it. Even thermography is quite pricey from Cranes – at least $150 for personalized letter sheets (the size I prefer) with lined envelopes. I have a box of unpersonalized ecru letter sheets with lined envelopes (Cranes florentine design – very pretty) – 30 sheets and 20 envelopes. I paid around $20 for it 3 years ago and still have several sheets and one envelope left. I bought my husband a similar box of white paper with envelopes lined in navy blue. His has lasted longer because he only writes his own personal letters with it. I do all our joint correspondance.
I should look around and see if I can find a place to buy personalized paper for cheaper than Cranes. I really would like to have some.
Had I had the little monkey cards at home, I’d probably have driven home just for that - maybe I should order some because this won’t be the only “card for coach (teacher, neighbor, sitter) from the kids” occation.
This exact idea had just occurred to me while reading this thread. “You mean, I can go get some stationary with my name on it and I’ll never be obligated to run to the store just to drop $5 on some freakin’ stupid card that the recipient will throw away anyway?”
Brilliant. Simply brilliant. Except, of course, for the old-lady relatives who value the $5 card above all else (Yes, I have a few of these, primarily my mother-in-law, who loves more than anything to get big honkin’ cards in the mail even though we live a mile away from her)