News
May 3, 2012
USPS Launches Mother’s Day Postmarks
The Greeting Card Association (GCA) has announced that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) will be processing all first-class mail in the next two weeks with special Mother’s Day postmarks – two of which specifically call out greeting cards.
This series of special postmarks, also known as stamp “cancellations,” will feature four different designs that will be randomly alternated through Mother’s Day on Sunday, May 13. The designs complement first-class mail greeting cards and also serve as a call to action.
“In this age of texting, emailing and phone calling, moms everywhere appreciate getting a card in the mail,” said USPS Transactions and Correspondence Manager Steve Monteith. “For those who haven’t mailed theirs yet, the cancellation may serve as a reminder. We see this as a way of reinforcing the powerful sentiments that are carried in first-class mail.”
The GCA believes this is an exciting new way to raise awareness of greeting cards and hopes these postmarks will be successful in increasing the volume of Mother’s Day cards in the mailstream.
“The GCA Postal Affairs Committee has been working with USPS staff for several years on ways to promote the mailing of greeting cards, and we are certainly pleased that the Postal Service will be utilizing these postmarks, which will build awareness not only for Mother’s Day, but specifically for Mother’s Day greeting cards,” said GCA Postal Affairs Committee Chairman George White, president of Up With Paper.
Mother’s Day is the third-largest card-sending occasion in the U.S., behind Christmas and Valentine’s Day. Approximately 133 million Mother’s Day cards are exchanged annually, according to GCA member Hallmark Cards. Additionally, greeting cards are by far the most common purchase for Mother’s Day, according to the National Retail Federation’s 2012 Mother’s Day consumer spending survey conducted by BIGinsight, with 83 percent of consumers saying they plan to buy a greeting card for Mother’s Day.
The GCA is managed by George Little Management, owner and manager of the annual National Stationery Show. For additional information, visit www.greetingcard.org.
