BoomerGirl Diary

Fort Lauderdale, Fla. — They're quick and fast and as welcome as Scrooge at Christmas dinner.

E-mailing holiday cards at Christmas and Hanukkah may be the last taboo when it comes to electronic communications.

"You get this cold, cold Christmas card alongside 500 spam e-mails," said Johannah Haber, a Plantation, Fla., chef who plans to send handwritten holiday cards, along with a personal note and a photo of her five dogs.

"We've lost so much of the personal touch in life. The e-mail, you can do that with your eyes closed. It doesn't mean anything."

The number of electronic cards, or e-cards, is a fraction of the 6 billion paper cards sent year-round in the United States, including Christmas, which generates the most cards, according to the Greeting Card Association.

Year-round, there are 20 paper cards mailed for every e-card, and the number of e-cards is declining.

That's not likely to change soon, says the U.S. Postal Service.

"The traditional mailing of Christmas cards is still something people are attached to," said Postmaster Michael K. Fortunato in Hollywood, Fla. There the volume of mail "doubles or triples" on peak days like the Monday before Christmas.

"I don't think we'll ever get away from that," Fortunato said. "When it comes to Christmas, people still like a personal card."

Why all the e-bah and humbug? For many people, Christmas or Hanukkah is the only time of year they connect with distant friends or relatives. Unlike an e-mail, a paper card is usually signed by the sender. It can be held, sealed with a kiss or tucked away as a keepsake.

Scott Benarde, of Boynton Beach, Fla., keeps a drawer at home filled with old cards, some from his two children.

"Cards are like little diary entries, messages from different life cycles," said Benarde, a marketing executive who sends Hanukkah cards every year.

At the holidays, "you're wishing peace on earth and joy and happiness," Benarde said. "You need to get up off your tuckus and show the care and consideration of picking out a card that means something to you."

Harry McCall Jr., 73, a widower who lives in Pembroke Pines, Fla., likes to sit down at his table and write a note with each card.

"E-mail feels like the lazy way out," McCall says during a quick stop to the post office. "I do it the old-fashioned way. I buy a box of cards and a pretty Christmas stamp. I like to look at the cards and hold them." With so much e-mail clutter, a handwritten or signed card "becomes a gift itself," said Lizette Lantigua, of Weston, Fla., whose Lantigua Designs makes bilingual holiday cards.

"All these modern things have made everything instant. That makes it even more important when someone takes the time to pick out a card and write it," Lantigua said.

Scott Ference, 41, Davie, Fla., includes photos of his kids when he sends out his Christmas cards.

E-cards for the holidays are "kind of tacky," he said. "For other things, like bosses' day or maybe a birthday, I might send an e-card. For Christmas, the way I was raised, it's better to send a hard copy. I think it's more personal."

Linda Morrison, of Cooper City, Fla., said she spends part of her day deleting junk e-mails and said her computer is the last place she wants to be when she's writing holiday cards.

"There are a lot of people you're not in touch with during the year. You're glad to hear from them at Christmas," said Morrison, who will send about 50 handwritten cards and spend Christmas in her native Jamaica.

Other people are cutting back on costs this year, or not sending cards at all.

For years Annette Baine, of Wellington, Fla., wrote a full-page holiday letter, updating her family's news, and sent copies with her handwritten cards.

This year, she'll probably just send a card and a family photo.

"I used to do the whole big letter and the cards. I noticed we were getting less and less of those and I wondered if people aren't doing that anymore," said Baine, a nurse and mother of two. "This year, we'll probably just stick with the cards."