Christmas card tradition continues on

It’s Christmas card time again. Many of our friends have given up on this tradition. If they do anything at all it is online. Not me. I still send paper cards in real envelopes and usually with a note or letter added.

There are always addresses to look up as people don’t stay in one place forever. Plus, some addresses are stored in a tattered address book while others are on the laptop. One or two are stuck on the refrigerator and some are lost forever or until we receive a card from them.

The cards I’m sending were rescued from Mom’s stash of stuff purchased but never opened. Like many of us, she had a hoard of things that she was saving. I have vowed that my daughter won’t find a similar hoard after I die but she probably will.

Sending holiday greetings continues a holiday tradition of catching up with friends in writing. Way back in the 1840’s in Victorian England it was considered rude to not answer these yearly holiday letters. Henry Cole, who founded the Victoria and Albert museum in London and was a prominent educator was overwhelmed by the amount of correspondence expected of him.

Wanting to avoid a severe case of writer’s cramp, and not having access to a modern printer or copy machine, he got together with his friend, J.C. Horsley. Together they designed a postcard depicting a happy family with space to write the name of the addressee. “A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year To You” was the message. A local printer produced enough cards for each of Cole’s many friends plus a few extra that he sold.

Thus was born the first Christmas card.

Although other people soon copied the card, it took awhile before sending pre-printed cards caught on. Louis Prang, a Prussian immigrant with a print shop near Boston, is said to have created the first Christmas card originating in the United States. This was  in 1875. The card featured a painting of a flower, and it read “Merry Christmas.” Then along came The Hall Brothers company, or as it is known today, Hallmark. Instead of postcards their Christmas cards were the folded variety we know. The industry took off and now we have all kinds of choices for holiday greetings.

The good thing about Christmas cards is that they don’t have an expiration date. Pictures or sentiments that were valid last year are still appropriate this year. Plus, if you don’t want to bother with writing a complete letter it is perfectly acceptable to sign your name and leave it at that.

But for me, opening a card and finding a real letter is like finding hidden treasure. I’m glad that Mr. Cole, Mr. Prang and all the others added to the tradition of connecting with far-flung friends and family at the end of the year.

For me, sending Christmas cards is not a chore, but a way to visit on paper when doing so in person is impossible. Now, where did I put that address?