The Christmas Cards Cometh

As I sit in my cozy chair and open my mail this morning I am grateful to those of my friends who still send annual Christmas cards and letters.  I look forward to connecting with old friends, being introduced to new members of the family, and mourning the loss of those who were dear. Perhaps you are one of those people. If so, you have my sincere thanks for enriching my life.

For those of you who have stopped sending cards, or perhaps never did, here are a few reasons to consider adding this tradition to your holiday season:

Reason One – To Utilize the Postal System

As I begin thinking about Christmas cards, I wondered who started the tradition. A quick search of the internet told me that the first Christmas card was mailed a hundred and seventy-six years ago, in Britain. Although the idea caught on quickly with Victorian society, Christmas cards were not an altruistic invention.  Sir Henry Cole, a civil servant, had worked to pass a reform bill in England that lowered the cost of postage to one penny.  People were slow to use the postal system, preferring the traditional method of message delivery in person or by courier. Cole needed to get people to use his Penny Post in order to finance the change. He commissioned the design for a Christmas postcard from his friend John Callcott Horsley, a well-known artist, printed 1000 copies, and sold them for a shilling each. The popularity of the Christmas card is considered responsible by historians for increasing the British mail volume by 11.5 million pieces in 1846. To those who decry the internet for destroying the modern postal system, here’s a way to fight back.

Reason Two – To Popularize the Reason for the Season

Before Queen Victoria’s reign, no one in Britain had heard of Santa Claus or Christmas Crackers (now a staple at Christmas Dinner in the UK). Before Christmas cards, people did not have holidays from work, and the traditional celebrations tended to be around food and drink.  The same year Horsley commissioned the first Christmas Card, Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol, which contains within it the touching story of the impoverished Cratchit family.  Watching the Cratchits enjoy their simple dinner and tiny plum pudding, Ebenezer Scrooge learned that family is more important than money.

The first Christmas Card depicted a central banquet scene with side panels illustrating acts of charity, central to the Victorian Christmas narrative. Today, cards depict the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus, white Christmases, horse and buggy rides to Grandma’s house, and several different versions of Old St Nick. Other seasonal cards show scenes from celebrations such as Hanukkah and Mohammad’s birthday. I get cards from my insurance agent, my car dealer, charities I’ve donated to, and the newspaper girl. The Christmas Card has become an equal opportunity marketing tool.

Reason Three – To Decorate the House

I always knew Christmas was coming when my mother stood on a chair and thumbtacked a red ribbon around the top of each wall in our front room.  For the next two months, she climbed on that chair daily to hang each day’s cards on the ribbon. An avid letter writer, my mother corresponded with friends and family around the world, and even with her friends from the ATS (Auxiliary Transport Service) whom she had met during World War II. It wasn’t unusual for us to receive over a hundred cards, and as she checked the little box in her Christmas book and stood on her chair to hang the cards up, she would tell me about the people who had sent them. I adopted a slightly less acrobatic way to display my own cards, taping them to long ribbons that hang vertically along one wall.

Reason Four – To Practice Your Cursive

Cursive writing is heading for extinction, I’ve been told.  That’s a shame.  My mother had beautiful handwriting until the day she died.  I can’t claim that – taking notes in college ruined my legibility, but I still enjoy the process of writing a letter by hand. I purchase a couple of new pens each year for writing my cards and try not to rush so that the recipient will actually be able to read what I write. I send cards to my grandchildren in cursive, even though I know they will have to ask their parents to read what I write. But I figure that’s my contribution to keeping the skill alive at least one more generation.

Reason Five – To Connect with Your Tribe

But the main reason I send cards each year is so that I will receive them myself.  I love seeing the cards my friends and families have selected, and reading the notes inside. Photographs, especially of children, help me keep track of the passage of time, and a well-crafted return address keeps my records up to date. I have a tradition of reading and sending cards that I have adhered to since I was in my 20s.  I usually receive the first card around November 1, generally from someone in Australia or the UK taking advantage of lower postage rates.  From then until December 20 I collect the cards, unopened, in a special green box labeled Glad Tidings.  After I’ve finished reading student papers and posting their grades, I begin to read the cards I’ve received and to answer them. I keep cards for a year, so now I put last year’s cards in alphabetical order and as I work my way through my Christmas Card book (yes, a real paper book!), I read last year’s card, this year’s card if it’s arrived, and then write my own note back. For the fifteen minutes or half an hour it takes me to do that for each card, I am present with the people I am writing to, thinking about the highs and lows of their lives, and remembering past times together. It’s pretty special, and I look forward to it every year.

Do you send Christmas cards? Do you enjoy receiving them? What is the best part for you of this storied tradition?  Please use the contact form on my blog to share your thoughts!

Marlene