The Stationers Guild

I love American ingenuity and, more importantly, the willingness of perfect strangers to share their shopping secrets.    I recently came across a Blog post asking for help to find “affordable wedding invitations.”  Many of the comments are priceless and, if you need a bit of humor, dig in.  I tried to post a comment myself, but presumably the Blog is not inviting any new comments.

Mr. Not Interested was my favorite:  ”Break out the xerox paper and fold it.   Get your local kids to sprinkle some glitter on them and take some of your old perfume or something . . . Maybe you should think about just calling people . . .”  (Note from Editor:  We should hire Not Interested to write for the Stationers Guild.)  Or, how about:

Kaeli:   “Micheal’s…duh create them yourself and ur good.”   On a more enterprising level, we have

Jessie:  “i got mine at wal-mart for 7 dollars for 25 of them went on my own computer and typed them up my self and printed them it took a little bit but if you have time u can do it your self or if you need someone too i am starting my own wedding service and i can do it for you just email me and let me know (email omitted but, if you are interested you can find it on the Blog post).”    

Umm, let me think about this.  You pay $7 for 25 invitation, say $5  for gas to go to Wal-Mart and maybe a couple of hours of work at minimum wage (another $15) and we have 25 invitations that cost $27.  I suppose Jessie could mark it up 100% and market her new wedding invitation line at $2.00 per invite.    Go for it Jessie!  I do recommend buying an etiquette book on wording your wedding invitations properly.  You might find it useful.  Or, how about:

Brown Eyes:  “If you have a Dollar tree store in your town, that’s the place to go. You’ll find all your thank you cards there also. Or if you prefer Staples’ Store, they also have a lot of invitations. Hope you find what your looking for. Good luck!”

Searching for “affordable wedding invitations” is no laughing matter.   With a tough economy, people are doing everything possible to save money and, as such, it is wise to scrutinize your entire wedding budget.  Personally, I have found that searching for a “cheap wedding invitation” is generally a false economy.  Cutting back on the extra pasta dish at the reception buffet might help free up part of your  budget to allocate toward a well-crafted and not necessarily expensive wedding invitation to celebrate this milestone event in your life.   After all, your wedding invitation is likely to be around far longer than the pasta. 

I recommend that you contact a qualified stationery store in your neighborhood for expert advice on crafting your wedding invitation.   You will be surprised at how much time and energy you will save to devote to other aspects of your wedding.

Richard W. May
Therese Saint Clair

Google Trends data suggests that searches for “birth announcements” and “baby announcements” are currently less than one third the level they were at the end of 2003.  Even I found this data surprising and, quite frankly, was at a loss to explain it and decided to do a little reasearch. 

I discovered that US births recorded in 2007 were at the highest level since the boom years of the late 1950s.   Of the record births recorded in 2007, over 40% were to unwed mothers.  Presumably, the demand for birth announcements is probably not strong among unwed mothers, but I have no empirical or annecdotal evidence to back up that assertion. 

One area that did intrigue me was the astronomical increase in cesearean deliveries over the last 30 years in the United States.  Well over a quarter of all deliveries are C-sections and recent studies suggest that it may now exceed 30%, with Westchester County (NY) leading the way with 46%.  During the 1970s less than 5% of babies were delivered by C-section.  Presumably, one might argue that this is a safer procedure for both mother and child; however, the World Health Organization argues that C-section delivery rates above 15% are not recommended.   Also, the United States has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the developed world despite that fact that well over 99% of deliveries occur in hospitals.    My research and a “heads-up” tip by close friends led me to an intriguing documentary entitled The Business of Being Born.  A video clip is shown below:

Most babies born in the U.S. are induced through a series of medication cocktails that one can only speculate if they are necessary and what harm they may cause to both mother and child.    As the documentary suggests, deliveries seem to be programmed to fit the schedules of either the doctor or the mother (or both) rather occuring naturally.  In fact, some hospitals offer a tummy-tuck after the C-section delivery of the “designer” baby.

These alarming statistics suggest that “giving birth” today in the United States is either a poorly planned outcome (unwedded mother) or simply a biological impediment that will cause you to take a few days off from your Yoga or tennis class.    In other word, giving birth ain’t that important anymore, so why send out birth announcements?

I would welcome a less alarming analysis, but surely these trends (the birthing trends, not birth announcement trends) do not augur well for our society. 

Richard W. May
Therese Saint Clair

I no longer continue to be surprised (but remain amused) at the incessant Internet chatter regarding cheap wedding invitations.  We live in a society that places a price on everything, but values little.  I know that sounds a bit harsh, but consider how TV ads focus more on price than on value.  Take the fellow on vacation with his family who discovers that one of the other guests received the same vacation package for half the price.  Will the family vacation experience suffer by this new-found knowledge or is it simply a case of diminished self-worth?  Or how about the family watching a film who learn that the family sitting in front of them eating 2,000 calories of popcorn got in for free with their reward miles?  Will this stifle the family’s happy outing?  It used to bother me, but not anymore as I have learned that price/value relationships are not always black and white.

Some 40 years ago  Sheila and I lived in Rome, Italy in a delightful 3-story walk-up on Via San Calisto in Trastevere that overlooked Sabatini’s restaurant.   The facade of the building was over 400 years old so I had difficulty understanding Scandinavian travel posters which advertised to travellers that they should “See Italy now before the Italians destroy it!”    I suppose the Scandinavians think that Ikea furniture will stand the test of time.

With my Chicago-school economic education it was (and remains) difficult  to understand certain aspects of Italian culture:  I refer to it as the “Value Proposition.”    My first experience with the Value Proposition was when I went into a tobacco store  to purchase stamps for a postcard.   I was shocked to find out that the amount of postage depended on the number of words you wrote on the postcard.  If I recall correctly, if you wrote more than five words (other than the address of the recipient) it bumped you into a higher postage category.

To Italians, this concept seemed most reasonable:  you are receiving “more value” and, as such, you be prepared to spend more.   To my mind, the cost of delivering the postcard is the same regardless of how many words are written on it and, as such, the price of the postage should be the same.    There are many other examples I could list, but clearly Italians seem to think that price is more closely associated with value than cost.  This Value Proposition still remains somewhat alien to my economic training, but speaks volumes of the dehumanizing process of seeking “value” in today’s price-driven economy.

Despite Internet rhetoric to the contrary, there is limited (if any) intrinsic ”value” in a “cheap wedding invitation.”  In fact, the intrinsic value relates to the adjective (i.e. “cheap”) rather than the wedding invitations.   I realize that this may seem like semantics, but – in my humble opinion - we need to place far greater emphasis on the Value Proposition of the event itself: the wedding ceremony, rather than the adjectives that tend define our economic circumstances or preferences.

The fact that one is getting married is a milestone event in most people’s lives.  This time-honored and sacred event is a high-level Value Proposition.  Channel your energies into crafting a wedding invitation that rises to the importance of the occasion and is within your budget parameters.  By setting your goals on getting a “cheap” wedding invitation, you have effectively defined the importance or “cheapness” of the event to your bridal partner and the guests.

Richard W. May
Therese Saint Clair

At this year’s International Gift Show at the Javits Center, Sheila and I were thrilled to find Forgetful Gentleman stationery. Nate and Brett, the two young owners of Forgetful Gentleman, are graduates of the University of Virginia who decided to take what started out to be a college business project (i.e. start a new business) to the next level.  Nate, who lives in New York City, explained that they wanted to create an elegant line of assorted stationery for “forgetful” gentlemen to pen a short note for both important and casual occasions. 

The idea was to provide time-challenged men with the necessary tools (i.e. fine stationery) to connect with others by way of a hand-written note.  In a world gone digitally overboard, this is an ambitious task.  In fact, it was Nate who suggested that I take a look at John Freeman’s The Tyranny of E-Mail, since he refused to have his life chained to the immediacy of a Blackberry.   Is this maturity beyond their years or simply a sign that the digital assault on our senses and sensibilities is drawing to a close?   I certainly don’t have the answer, but it is quite refreshing that these two young gentleman have embarked on this ambitious quest. 

Brett, who lives in San Francisco, explained that Forgetful Gentleman sells an assortment of notes printed in letterpress or flat-printed on quality paper.  Their “Elephant Line” consists of 12 note cards:  3 Thank You notes, 3 Birthday notes , 2 Thinking of You, 2 blank correspondence cards, 1 Congratulations and 1 “I love You.”  They even have included four stamped envelopes for those who have difficultly finding a Post Office.  We opted for the luxury suite in letterpress, which comes with a beautiful wooden box resembling a cigar box.  For those gentlemen who suffer from writer’s cramp, the box comes with a primer on articulate letter writing.

We wish Nate and Brett much success and do hope that they can make the National Stationery Show in May.

Richard W. May
Therese Saint Clair

John Freeman, the editor of Granta magazine, has recently published a book called The Tyranny of E-mail: The Four-Thousand-Year Journey to Your Inbox.   After reading an excerpt from The Tyranny of E-mail, I immediately ordered it.  I suggest you do the same.     Found below is a brief promo video from Simon & Schuster in which Mr. Freeman briefly describes our inability as humans to keep pace with electronic communications and how our daily struggle “to keep up” is threatening to endanger the relationships we hold most sacred:  our spouse, our family, our relatives and our friends.  Boy, is this a wakeup call. 

Mr. Freeman comments that “In the past two decades, we have witnessed one of the greatest breakdowns of the barrier between our work and per­sonal lives since the notion of leisure time emerged in Victorian Britain as a result of the Industrial Age. It has put us under great physical and mental strain, altering our brain chemistry and daily needs. It has isolated us from the people with whom we live, siphoning us away from real-world places where we gather. It has encouraged flotillas of unnecessary jabbering, making it difficult to tell signal from noise. It has made it more difficult to read slowly and enjoy it, hastening the already declining rates of literacy. It has made it harder to listen and mean it, to be idle and not fidget.”  He goes on to state that “this is not a sustainable way to live. This lifestyle of being constantly on (online or on call) causes emotional and physical burnout, work­place meltdowns, and unhappiness.”

Mr. Freeman and others are now beginning to voice their reservations at what I have previously referred to as “fast-food” communication.    Indeed, we all need to reflect on the effects that these mostly beneficial advances in technology have on our society.   Mr. Freeman argues that “slow communications” will help “preserve our sanity, our families, our relationships and our ability to find happiness in a world where, in spite of the Internet, saying what we mean is as hard as it ever was. It starts with a simple instruction: Don’t send.”

As stationers, we are torch-bearers for the slow communications movement.   It is time for leaders in the industry to seize the initiative and speak out to protect this vitally important yet fragile industry which threatens to succumb to the mindless and incessant stream of chatter signifying nothing.  Organizers of the National Stationery Show, please reflect!

Richard W. May
Therese Saint Clair

The legendary Smythson of Bond Street has been sold once again to Greenwill SA, the holding company for the Tivoli group, an Italian leather goods manufacturer.  Now, better known for its luxury leather goods than its stationery, Smythson has undergone several ownership changes in recent years, the latest being the 2005 acquisition by Mike Sherwood, a Goldman Sachs banker.

Smythson was granted a Royal Warrant to Her Majesty the Queen in 1964 and other Royal warrants have followed.  Presumably, this Royal blessing allows you to price your products at levels which gives nose bleed to even the most intrepid shopper.

I do recall visiting Smythson’s Bond Street store many years ago and marvelled at their beautiful papers, exquisite designs and bold colors.  In the back of the store, there was a small room which had samples of “Royal” stationery, old engraving dies and a few photographs which traced the history of this esteemed stationer.  Like many others, I have hopeful that the new Italian owners will keep the paper presses and designers producing Smythson’s elegant stationery.  We would all be royally blessed.

Richard W. May
Therese Saint Clair

If you are seeking engraved stationery, now might be a good time to drop into your neighborhood stationery store to take advantage of Crane’s signature event engraving die sale.  Order 100 or more engraved cards, notes or stationery and receive you name or monogram die and return address die for free.  This is a savings of $96 and those dies are your to keep so you continue to save money on future stationery reorders.  Personalized stationery is a great gift for this Valentine’s Day.  Alternatively,  you may receive a free return address on thermographed personalized stationery on orders of at least 100 sets.  This sale ends on April 12, 2010.

Crane & Co. has one of the most extensive lines of stationery in the industry and this 200-year privately owned company is renowned for its close-registration engraving, beautiful cotton papers and strong customer service.  When purchasing stationery, we strongly recommend visiting an experienced stationer in your neighborhood to touch and feel the paper stock and see how ink colors change depending on the printing process used.

Richard W. May
Therese Saint Clair

To celebrate Valentine’s Day, The Morgan Library & Museum  in midtown New York City will have on display a hand-drawn Valentine Day’s cartoon from poet  E.E. Cummings to Marion Morehouse. 

Without question, the Morgan Library is one of the great architectural and cultural treasures in New York.  A visit to this magnificent Museum is provides a historical and visual perspective of the great traditions of Western culture that, in my experience, is not matched by any other museum in the world with the possible exception of the Getty Museum on the West Coast. 

While I was first drawn to the Morgan Museum to see the illustrated manuscripts (see above), I have now become a “book junkie” that has fallen in love with the Morgan Library.  The beauty of this three-story wood library makes you want to settle in for a lifetime of reading.  Each volume tells a story far  beyond the actual words in the book.  For instance, where else in the world would the find Goethe’s The Sorrows of Young Werther that was reportedly carried by Napoleon?   Where else can you see original music scores written by Mozart in his own hand and hand-written novels by the Bronte sisters?   The Morgan Library and Museum is a sacred place that inspires by its unique perspective on the rich traditions of Western culture.

In a delicious article, Alison Leigh Cowan of the New York Times writes of the many exhibits in the metro-area that will display memorable love letters and notes  to celebrate Valentine’s Day.  Ms. Cowan quotes Mark Twain as saying that ‘“The frankest and freest product of the human mind and heart is a love letter.  The writer gets his limitless freedom of statement and expression from his sense that no stranger is going to see what he is writing.”

This year, as in year’s past, I will pen a short love note to my wife of near forty years for Valentine’s Day.  Like Mark Twain, those few hand-written words reflect a “limitless freedom of statement and expression” that no other form of communication can match.  This Valentine’s Day, why don’t you plan on doing the same.

Richard W. May
Therese Saint Clair

During this week’s Gift Show at the Javits Center in New York City, Sheila and I were kindly invited to Constance Kay’s lovely studio  in midtown Manhattan for champagne and hor’dourves.  For those unfamiliar with Constance Kay, suffice to say that she is the High Priestess of greeting cards (boy would she hate that title). 

Contrary to what is going on in the greeting card industry, Constance is a beacon of light by helping many talented artists apply their unique talents to create a stunning array of hand-made greeting cards.   Representing well over 70 artists, Constance - with the able support of her husband David – encourages these artists to use their talent to create unique greeting cards for important occasions in people’s lives.  Each artist has their own style or “look” and it is breath-taking to see what these remarkable artists can create on a folded piece of elegantly crafted paper  not much larger that 5″x 7″.

As a favor, we received a few samples of new artists that have recently joined the fold.   For instance, Maureen Triece Cole, whose beautiful card sample is displayed above has a Masters of Fine Arts degree from Texas Women’s University and is an accomplished artist whose work has appeared in numerous juried competitions, group exhibitions and individual shows.  Erica DiPaulo (see design below) lives in central Ohio with her husband, two children, two dogs and a rabbit.  This beautiful collage in orange and textured paper makes me yearn for spring when the birds will begin to sing again.

Sheila and I have been so moved by the great artists featured by Constance that we donated the Therese Saint Clair  greeting card collection of over 5,000 cards to charity many years ago.   There are greeting cards and greeting cards, but a Constance Kay greeting card is to be treasured.  The artist supplies the cover to your personalized greeting, but you must supply the message. 

If you are looking to break out of the cookie-cutter greeting card mold and discover an artist who captures the spirit of the occasion, Constance Kay may be just what the doctor ordered.  We thank Constance for exposing these artists to a wider public and we and our clients are greatly enriched by the experience. 

Richard W. May
Therese Saint Clair

Sheila and I just returned from the 2010 National Gift Show that was celebrated from January 30 through February 2 at the Javits Center in New York City.   The mood was certainly more upbeat than last year and most vendors seemed pleased with attendance and buying activity.

Expecting the worst, vendors seemed genuinely relieved and surprised at the volume of business that they were able to generate at both the Atlanta and NYC gift shows.    While several characterized it as “restocking due to depressed inventory positions,” there seemed to be a general level of optimism that things may have turned the corner.  This is purely annecdotal feedback and I have no solid statistical evidence to support an economic turnaround, but we will keep our fingers crossed.  We all deserve a bit of good news!

Richard May
Therese Saint Clair