Bread and Butter Letter

This dear “thank you” note card is available on Shutterfly!

In days gone by, a short and sweet thank you note for a meal well enjoyed or the such, was called a “Bread and Butter Letter”.

Trivia Genius has this to say about them:

“Before women fully entered the workforce, one of their chief jobs in running a household involved keeping up with correspondence.

And one of the most common letters they wrote was known as a bread-and-butter note, or a thank you, specifically for hospitality from a guest to a host.

The actual etymology of why “bread and butter” became synonymous with entertaining someone is a bit fuzzy, other than to say most social affairs of the time involved quite literally breaking bread. The nickname also has a bit of a dual meaning: The contents of a bread-and-butter note are pretty safe and simple, and most importantly — expected. Just like bread and butter at the start of a meal!”

This, being the season of thanks, we thought you would enjoy this!

With many thanks for all of you,