One of my favorite parts of the Christmas season is Christmas cards. I love getting them and I love sending them. I enjoy and appreciate the creativity that people demonstrate in the type of card they choose, the artwork, and the message. But what I especially enjoy is when someone has taken the time to write a personal note, newsy or otherwise. I even like the infamous Christmas letters as long as there is an inserted personal note at some point.
Just for grins, I looked up Christmas card etiquette at that "Hallmark" (no pun intended) of internet intellectualism known as Wikipedia. Surprisingly, there are not very many rules of thumb. The consensus is that Christmas cards should be hand-addressed and personally signed with some kind of personal note - short, long or otherwise. A well-accepted standard is including some kind of picture - either of the entire family, or perhaps the children. This has given rise to the all-inclusive picture Christmas card.
The history of
Christmas cards is actually not very long. In an effort to sell more stamps, the first commercial Christmas card (pictured) occurred in Britain in the 1800s, and from the start, Christmas cards have been somewhat controversial. The first card, as you can see, depicts a merry family made even more merry by enjoying a little wine. This caused a little bit of whining by the general public. Other controversies have been caused by not paying heed to peoples' religious persuasions by sending a deeply secular family a strongly evangelistic card. Now Christmas cards have entered the electronic age and e-cards have reduced the number of mailed cards received over the last ten years to an average of 20 cards per family from 24.
Christmas cards is actually not very long. In an effort to sell more stamps, the first commercial Christmas card (pictured) occurred in Britain in the 1800s, and from the start, Christmas cards have been somewhat controversial. The first card, as you can see, depicts a merry family made even more merry by enjoying a little wine. This caused a little bit of whining by the general public. Other controversies have been caused by not paying heed to peoples' religious persuasions by sending a deeply secular family a strongly evangelistic card. Now Christmas cards have entered the electronic age and e-cards have reduced the number of mailed cards received over the last ten years to an average of 20 cards per family from 24. The last part of Christmas cards that I enjoy is at the end of the season taking them all down from their prominent display perches and reading back through them. Occasionally we'll get a card from someone that we've omitted and it's always good to follow up on their effort to stay connected.
So for all of you that blessed our temporary Texas abode with a card this year, we offer our heartfelt appreciation and look forward to this time-honored tradition again next year.
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