Celebrate National Letter Writing Month with Dempsey & Carroll

While the art of letter writing may seem like something from a bygone era, replaced with a quicker means of correspondence like email and the even more abbreviated version, text messaging, there’s still nothing like receiving a handwritten note in the mail.

In April 2001, the National Postal Service officially introduced National Letter Writing Month. This was the same year that I started my first ‘real’ job as an adult, and also when I started writing to a group of penpals around the world. From Europe to Asia getting a handwritten note in ‘the post’ was the highlight of my week, and I even made a few close friendships through my correspondence.

Now I enjoy writing letters to my mom and placing it on her bedside table, or sending a letter to my eldest niece Cecileia (mostly known as Celia thanks to her little sister Charlotte and her school friends).

New York-based Dempsey and Carroll recently released new stationery for the spring season, and I’m sharing a sneak peek into the collection, along with links to a few of the selections they graciously sent my way.

Happy letter writing!

— About the Brand —

“Dempsey & Carroll has long been considered the finest purveyor of elegant engraved social stationery. In 1878, John Dempsey, a talented engraver, and George Carroll, a savvy businessman, collaborated on the founding of a company that would not only provide its customers with luxury writing papers but also offers advice on etiquette and proper decorum in a variety of social settings. To the founders, the social institutions of correspondence and etiquette were inseparable, and they saw Dempsey & Carroll as an ideal marriage of the two.

Prior to establishing the company, Mr. Dempsey enjoyed a reputation as one of the best engravers in New York City. Throughout his 30-year career, he engraved for nearly every prominent jeweler, stationer, and bookseller in the New York metropolitan area. Mr. Carroll was a businessman with significant advertising experience, which he leveraged to help Dempsey & Carroll quickly reach its elite status. He realized that by writing books on social etiquette, the company could educate the public and advertise the brand and its products, becoming the authority on good taste and social decorum. These books and pamphlets were primarily written by Mr. Carroll and were engraved, typeset, and printed by Dempsey & Carroll.

More than 130 years later, Dempsey & Carroll is still considered an authority on proper etiquette regarding everything from opulent wedding invitations to classic thank-you notes. With our history firmly rooted in this refined art form, Dempsey & Carroll remains dedicated to serving our customers and standing behind our truly exceptional products.”