bread-and-butter letter

Idioms  

1. A thank-you letter from guest to host. For example, Mother always had to remind the children to send Grandma a bread-and-butter note. [c. 1900]

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Example Sentences

And so the "bread-and-butter" letter went to Mr. and Mrs. Geary both, and was kept and treasured by them as one of their choicest possessions.

From Marjorie at Seacote by Wells, Carolyn

Within ten days after her departure the guest should write a bread-and-butter letter to her hostess.

From Book of Etiquette, Volume 2 by Watson, Lillian Eichler

Also, I have a polite bread-and-butter letter from my nice young man in Washington, and a book from him, likewise a box of candy.

From Dear Enemy by Webster, Jean

One of these is what a college boy recently described in my hearing as the "bread-and-butter letter."

From The Secret of a Happy Home (1896) by Harland, Marion

"A bread-and-butter letter; Mother says it's all right."

From Marjorie at Seacote by Wells, Carolyn