Christmas Culture: Cards

I am a big fan of Christmas cards. To me it is an inexpensive way to show you are thinking of someone at this time of year, to keep in touch with friends and family you may not see regularly, and spread a little bit of Christmas cheer.

Granted, it is a lot of paper/card to be disposed of, but I tend to hope most people recycle their cards, and possibly buy recycled cards. Also, at least they serve a point, rather than all that wasted wrapping paper…

Back in the UK I would normally buy a few boxes of charity cards, and use those for everybody: family or friends. I never saw the need to spend several times the cost on individual cards from Clinton’s that have specific relation names printed on the front. After all, it’s the thought that counts, isn’t it?

One of the biggest differences in the approach to Christmas in the US that I have found so far is the culture of personalised Christmas cards. If I take a look at the string of cards on our wall currently, I can see at a glance which are from the UK and which are from the USA.

The UK ones are all generic cards – either with specific printing on the front (Son, Nephew etc), or a general Christmas scene. The ones from US friends and family all have photographs on the front – of the senders and their families. I say on the front, the vast majority are also flat – two-sided – like postcards, normally with a message or another photo on the back.

This caused a bit of an issue for me… it may partly be my British tendencies, but the last thing I wanted to send people this year was a Christmas card with my face on it!

My initial reaction when considering this, is that pre-printed cards are less personal. After all, the exact same one is sent to each person, with no personalization. Some companies will even let you upload a list of recipients, and they will print the envelopes and send them for you, so they never even pass through the sender’s hands. Yes, it is very convenient, but I have always considered the main point of a Christmas card is that it shows you are thinking of somebody; does that come across with this style of greeting?

Then again, in some ways a photo card is far more personal. After all, there is a lot of thought that goes into choosing a photo and designing the card, and many people will gather their family for a photo shoot specifically as an annual ritual.

The ‘Christmas letter’ also seems more prevalent, or at least a message on each card that tends to be far more personal than when hand-writing so many different cards. I normally just about manage a ‘to’ and ‘from’ on each card, lest my hand stop working after the 40th card…

In the end we went with a wedding photo, which was the main reason my wife wanted to get cards printed this year; after all, this is the only year we can use one. This seemed less awkward for me, and we also got folded cards so I could write people’s names inside, and personally sign them. Compromise is what marriage is all about, right?

Maybe next year we will have a cat that we can put on the front…