There was a time when people used to correspond by writing letters to each other and sending them through the mail. As part of an elementary English class, students learned how to construct different types of notes, which included the heading, body and closing in each. Among the different styles they learned were the thank you letters, which were customary to send out in response to receiving a gift.

Today these are still the proper way to respond to receiving a gift and can be hand written on personal stationary or included as part of a greeting card note. A formal letter should have the name and address of the person it is going to printed on the top of the page as well as the name and address of the person sending it. It should include the date the letter is being written and a friendly greeting as the opening line.

The body should not only thank the person for the item that was gifted, but it should specifically name the item as well. This acknowledges the receipt of the gift and also shows the sender that you personally know what it is. It is also good to mention what uses you have for the gift. There are some exceptions to this area, which include gifts of flowers that are cut and have a limited life span. However, if the cut flowers arrived in a vase you can reuse it and this could be mentioned in the letter.

There are a number of reasons why people send thank you letters. Some of the gift giving occasions include Christmas, weddings, baby showers and birthdays. These are festive events where the gift givers are usually present at a party thrown in honor of the event. Even though you might thank your guests at some point during the party it is still polite to send a card or note some time afterward to acknowledge them on an individual basis.

Other occasions that are not centered around celebrations include hospital stays and funerals. These are times when people send words and gifts of encouragement to the person with the illness or the loss. These people make the effort to show how much they care and should be responded to with appreciation in the form of thank you letters.

Creating your own notes to send through the mail does not have to be a chore. If you have a computer and printer you can use a variety of different fonts and images to make each one unique to the person who will receive it.

One of the most important times to write thank you letters is after a job interview. Be sure to visit my site to learn the basics of writing a thank you letter after interview http://www.thankyouletters.org/.