What does your Christmas card say about you?
December 25, 2018What does your Christmas card say about you? Apparently every part of it has the power to send a message to the recipient about who you are and what you value. At least that is what sociologists who study this kind of thing say. Do you address it by hand (personal) or by a computer made label (impersonal)? Is the card image religious (conservative) or not? Is the message inside one line long (minimalist) or nine lines long (traditionalist)? And how do you insert the card into the envelope?
The first Christmas card was commissioned in London by Sir Henry Cole, along with his artist friend, John Horsley. The card had three panels–two outer panels illustrated people caring for the poor and in the center panel was a family having a large Christmas dinner replete with wine at the table and even a child being given a glass of wine.
This provoked controversy because putting alcohol and Holy Christmas in one picture was offensive to many. However, the controversy did not prevent the card, which originally cost about eight cents, from becoming the world’s most expensive Christmas card when it was sold for $35,800 at auction in 2001.
Eventually, Christmas card production made its way to the US and by 1881, American printer, Louis Prang, was printing more than 5 million Christmas cards per year! Perhaps that production has ebbed and flowed since the impact of the digital world, but Christmas card buying and sending still continues in various forms. And those forms have made Christmas Card etiquette a necessary study and protocol. For example, is it okay to email a card? Well, if your only relationship with someone is a digital one, or if the recipient is in the military where mail can be easily detained or lost, or if you have budget constraints, then an email card is fine. However, if the recipient of your card is family or a flesh-and-blood friend, then a standard card is the best choice.
And it’s good to keep in mind that digital cards have a brief lifespan in that most recipients give them less than 10 seconds of attention before pressing delete. Standard cards, on the other hand, have greater longevity and personal impact. Mailed cards are enjoyable to receive, are usually opened before any other mail, and find a home on the fireplace mantel, kitchen counter or some other special spot for all to see. In my home, growing up, my mother decorated the stair rungs with cards as well as displayed them on top of the piano!
Christmas card etiquette exists for other aspects of sending cards as well. When is it okay to remove someone from your card list? Is it okay to cut out someone who has not sent you a card in return for two years? Should you send cards to people you will see and be able to give good wishes to in person? Do cards require an acknowledgment of receipt or a card sent in return? How should you sign your cards? Is it ok to use address labels and name stamps? When should cards be mailed (between December 1st and 24th)?
Well, today is Christmas and hopefully you have written all of your cards so that they were received between December 1st and 24th. But if not, Christmas card etiquette says you can send New Year’s cards instead, up to the end of the second week of January! So there’s that!
And then there’s my Christmas card to you from Words of Worth, Inc., and in God’s words, which exceeds all manner of etiquette and the costliest greeting every sent:
