I've stopped writing thank-you cards and my kids don't have to write them, either. We express our gratitude in other ways.

In today's Miss Manners column, advice columnist Judith Martin responds to if thank-you notes for gifts are necessary.

At Christmas this year, the time it took prompted me to pause and reflect: Is it truly necessary to write a thank-you note for a thank-you gift? It feels a bit circular.

At Christmas this year, the time it took prompted me to pause and reflect: Is it truly necessary to write a thank-you note for a thank-you gift? It feels a bit circular.

In return, I have always taken the time to write careful and personal thank-you notes for each of these gifts.

Teacher begins to think it’s “a bit circular” to write thank-you notes for gifts of appreciation from students and their families.

In return, I have always taken the time to write careful and personal thank-you notes for each of these gifts.

Etiquette expert Jan Goss agrees—so much so that she always carries a baggie of small thank-you cards in her purse. “Never pass up an opportunity to leave a thank-you note.

I spent hours in eighth grade writing thank-you notes for bar mitzvah gifts, sending polite paragraphs to people I hardly knew, and thanking them effusively even if all they gave was a JNF tree ...