How was your Christmas? I hope you were able to celebrate the Birth of Christ and give him his due props around your house this year. I am starting to take down a bit of the Christmas trimmings around our house and it occurs to me while doing this that Christmas seems to fly in and swoop out a little more quickly each year. No matter how much I promise myself I will not get swept up in the tide of parties and gatherings, church festivities, cookie parties, shopping and blah, blah, blah...and just enjoy a nice, quiet Christmas....it never happens. I mean really....how can it? Those are all the things that make the modern Christmas experience, right? With a 3 year old in tow, fuggetabout it!
Quiet, sch..my-it. Here I am in the tiny little breathing space between the afterglow of Christmas and the big, fat hope of a new year.
My one reprieve from the noise of Christmas commerce and annual Christmas cartoons in prime time is that lovely space of time, after dinner has been cleared, when I can curl up in my easy chair with a hot cup of Peppermint Yogi Tea and open the Christmas cards we have received that day.
Christmas cards originated from an idea that Sir Henry Cole had in the early to mid 1800s. He was the founder and director of the South Kensington Museum (now known as the Victoria and Albert Museum) in London, England. Sir Henry was in the habit of hand writing a Christmas letter to friends, family and acquaintances to wish them holiday greetings. His desire was to send a large number of Christmas letters at once. He was simply too busy to hand write so many. So, to solve Sir Henry’s problem, he called upon John Calcott Horsley and asked him to design some Christmas cards to be printed with his Christmas greeting on them. Thus, the first Christmas cards were printed with a Merry Christmas/Happy New Year greeting and were then colored by hand. Almost immediately the tradition of sending Christmas cards began and became widespread.
A 2008 national survey (conducted by an unknown internet source, ??) revealed 69% of people passed on their season's greetings this year by making a phone call on their landline, while 60% emailed their greetings and 22% sent a text message. Still, a healthy 65% of those asked said they also sent a Christmas card, implying that the tradition of dispatching a handwritten message is still going strong.
Most of the cards from our friends aren't really cards at all, but rather the works of snapfish, or kodakgallery, shutterfly, or Walgreen's photo department. Over half of the "cards" we received were actually family or child photocards. We tried this and sent a similar one last year, too. They are so easy and convenient and these companies even let you upload your address spread sheet and will directly mail them all for you. Licking envelopes? Fuggetabout it! The time management issues Sir Henry had so long ago haven't gotten any better for any of us and this is the modern day solution. I do love receiving the pretty glossy pictures of all the kids and families...but, I so appreciate when a little handwritten note is included.
LEFT: Not my family! Just some commercial family!
The dying art of the handwritten letter is something to treasure. I was in Borders a few days after Christmas and as I selected next year's pretty cards off the 50% table, two women in their late 60's complained about paying for postage and the time and effort Christmas cards take. "It's worth it!" I couldn't help but saying in response to their loud moans. "Handwritten correspondence is a dying art form and this is the one time of year when people send snail mail to each other! I love it!" They both smiled politely at me and sighed deeply before stepping away from the table and walking off to the Cookbook section to undoubtedly exclaim, "Who the hell asked her?"
The cards, enclosed photos, postage, time, effort do add up...but I loved opening those cards every night with my tea and hanging them one-by-one on the twine garland draped on our mantle.Our son stares at the children's faces in the accompanying photos every night and asks who's this and who's that. In my opinion, it is a lovely tradition. Do I plan on giving it up anytime soon? Fuggetabout it!
However.... for New Year's wishes, an e-greeting will have to do:
May you and yours have a blessed 2009!
