There was a time when postal workers’ bags bulged with holiday cards in December as millions of Americans blasted out family photos and other season’s greetings. In 2002, Americans sent 2.9 billion holiday cards—10 for every man, woman and child. By last year, that figure had decline by half to 1.4 billion, just over 4 per person, according to data that the United States Postal Service provided to TIME.
That follows a general decline in personal mail, as the two following charts demonstrate.
The older you get, the more likely you are to be contributing to that dwindling stock, USPS numbers show, with senior citizens more than twice as likely to mail holiday cards as teenagers, according to figures from 2009.
More Must-Reads from TIME
- How Donald Trump Won
- The Best Inventions of 2024
- Why Sleep Is the Key to Living Longer
- Robert Zemeckis Just Wants to Move You
- How to Break 8 Toxic Communication Habits
- Nicola Coughlan Bet on Herself—And Won
- Why Vinegar Is So Good for You
- Meet TIME's Newest Class of Next Generation Leaders
Write to Chris Wilson at chris.wilson@time.com