Sending Christmas Cards
Have seen such a huge drop off in the number of cards received even though we still send...and no, you scrooges--we're still on good terms with all the receivers.
Maybe it's the immediacy of social media, maybe it's the high cost, maybe folks too busy, or lazy, to put in the effort?
Kinda miss the tradition...anyone else?
gen3Townie gen3Townie, Every Christmas I think that maybe I will send out less Christmas cards than during years past. But, when I sit down to write out my cards, I don't want to eliminate anyone on my list! When I go to the post office to mail my stack of cards I have a joyous "everything's right with the world" kind of feeling. It is true that I receive less cards than in years past, and I think social media, cost of mailing, overly busy lives, etc. are some of the reasons.
MrsPipes Me too!, MrsPipes....I have always loved sending Christmas Cards and, even more so, receiving them. I don't like the cost of mailing or taking the time to do this anymore but will continue this tradition as long as I can.
joyful I too enjoy the sending and receiving. Lets us keep in touch if only for a few minutes. Last year I didn't hear from a friend. I went to her town and drove down her street and noticed one empty house. (I didn't have her # with me, so didn't know if the empty house was hers or not.) I had also called. Well, I just felt maybe she had passed, or was living in an assisted living facility. Can you imagine how happy I was, when last week I saw her in the A & P in Budd Lake. Seems last year around this time, she had fallen and broke her hip, so no Christmas cards. We are having lunch next week. What a happy day.
Ms Fishy I love, love, love sending Christmas Cards!! I send over 200 cards a year, it used to take me days and days and days and aggravation (tried to print the addresses on the envelopes for a few years, ugh) --- Finally found a program that does a great job! They print, stuff, stamp and get it to the post office! I send a wonderful card with several pictures of the family and room for a message and I get to put our signatures printed in each card! I do spend a lot but I LOVE IT! Each card including postage costs about $1.70! And after I design the card it takes all of 15 min. to send out!
https://www.sendoutcards.com/wendystanton/
trekster3 I love sending and getting Christmas cards. I like displaying them as Christmas decorations around the doorway in the living room. I got my first the other day. So what if it was from Barons Hallmark. I hung it up and got a coupon. LOL
Wild Angel I used to be more into Christmas cards than I am now. I think it has to do with the loss of a personal touch from the senders. Most folks I know send photo cards with pre-printed messages and I just feel its very robotic. Now that I have a 3 year old I sorta understand this trend though. I used to write out a personal message for each recipient and I'd mail them out the day after Thanksgiving. Lol - that isn't the case anymore. I don't have that much free time! Last year I sent out some photo cards with the preprinted message. It was less work, more money, and I wasn't nearly as chipper doing it. Not sure what I'll do this year. Last year I had a friend send me a card that promoted me "liking" their band on FB. Social media is coming!
Antimony I was just saying I miss Christmas cards....I remember being younger and being soooo excited to go to the mailbox to have like 10 cards a day in the month of December
nosila My personal opinion is that social media has taken away the 'personal touch' which should be a very important component in our lives. People used to make an effort to reach out via letter, card, phone, or visit, and it mattered. Social media such as face book and others just do not do it for me personally. I think I'll start writing my Christmas Cards today and maybe even add some people to my list!
I think this is a great thread. Thank you to all the posters for your thoughts and ideas. I already purchased my holiday cards and stamps, however this gives me an incentive to write them out and get them in the mail. I, too, enjoy displaying the cards I receive as decoration and love the family photos.
Chickadee Up until last year I sent cards. I only sent a few out to people I don't see on a regular basis. When I do write them out I have the voice of Joan Crawford in my head from "Mommy Dearest" asking Cristina if she had her Christmas Card list done yet.
Blackcat I still send them out. I have also noticed we get about half of what we used to. A few friends have told me it's too expensive. I have one friend that I have known since middle school and we still send each other a card and catch up every year.
Sunshine I've been sorting through photo albums and pictures lately trying to downsize and unclutter. In the process....I came across a lot of pictures of years ago of people and friends that I plan to send Christmas cards to this year. I will include these pictures along with their card so they can enjoy the memories again too.
MrsPipes, I am with you in the fact that I miss human contact and hate texting, social media, etc. I have to text because that's the only way my friends communicate. To me, texting is like everyone trying to be 15, and I am nearly 3 times that age!
As for cards, I am all over sending and receiving them. It's a lost art in a digital world. I also like supporting the postal workers :-)
ess Joyful, One of my Sisters has been sorting through her treasure trove of memories and when she finds a picture she either knows or thinks someone from her past (even some people in her present) would like to have, she sends it along to them with a note. People have thanked her for that kindness. This has even applied to her ex-husband. He lives in a distant State as does most of his family. Both he and his family are very happy to receive these pictures from past times. She will do that with some of the folks she sends Christmas cards to this year as will I. Joyful, I believe your efforts will be very much appreciated especially at this Christmas time of the year.
ess, As you might expect, I agree completely with you. As we move forward in this world of social media, texting, etc., I believe the day will come when it begins to turn around to Real contact with people. Something is definitely lost in communication via text, facebook and the like. Body language is lost, nuances in facial expression is lost, reaching out and embracing someone who needs a hug is lost ... stuff like that is lost. Also, it's too easy to make a 'remark' etc. via the social outlets that a person might think twice about if the remark was being made in person. As always, these are my personal opinions and they definitely apply to me.
Just ordered my cards for this year. I'm going the postcard way instead. I found a great site to make a postcard with a picture. It makes it easier and cheaper to send out 100. With the postcard, I can even jot a note (which I couldn't with the regular photo ones).
I display the photo cards I get all year in the doorway to the kitchen. People are always looking at them.
grapesI stopped sending Christmas cards a few years ago. I started to realize that sending a card started to become very impersonal as well. I realized that even though I sent a card year after year, I hadn't spoken or seen that person for years. Now instead of sending Christmas cards, I call those "special people" I care about; even if it's only once a year. There is nothing like speaking to a person or meeting up with them to catch up on what has been going on in our lives. There is so much one can write on a card. Otherwise, one really has no idea if they are ill, or even passed on. There is a card out there for everything that I find that "sending cards" has become somewhat commercialized and more of a money-making business rather than a nice thought.
Tweety I began doing the postcard thing a few year ago. I decided to make it something more personal and so I pick one of my grandmother's beloved Christmas cookie recipes, make a batch of the cookies, photograph them, add the recipe for that cookie and that becomes the front of the postcard.
On the back, I write my sentiments and wishes for everyone. I love designing the postcard and they have become something my family and friends say they look forward to each year because they keep them and are basically building a little recipe collection. And because my grandmother has passed away, I feel happy inside that I am sharing a very special piece of her that will be continued.
The online company prints, laminates and mails them for me ~ I do splurge for the larger postcards (5.5"x11") because I love the way they look.
It is getting harder now because I am getting to the end of the Christmas cookie recipes from my grandmother so I will either go to regular cookie recipes or other food recipes that she had.
Jules Usually, or shall I say, actually, my wife is the Christmas postGirl that gets flustered and scrambling writing out Christmas Cards Last Minute.
I had suggested a great way to have those cards all done and ready to mail in a jiffy.
For years, my Grandmother would buy her cards early. She started a routine, and had it all in order.
As she would receive a card from someone, she would sign and note! Then address the card and then place it in a box. As she received all her cards, and from whomever had the spirit to send them, she would just have to leaf through the pile for the next year at say Dec. 1st...and pull out the cards to the Dead People on her list. They were all done...she would stamp them, and then take them to the post office all tied together with used string that she saved!
They were Never Dropped in the Collection Mailbox on the street; for fear someone would rob the mail looking for money $ $ in cards which by the way, was a trusted thing back in the good ole days.
First class mail was 13 cents, and back then that was considered excessive.
Poor Gram.. dedicated extra postage rate called AirMail, just to sent out of state.
No one could convince her that a regular 1rst class stamp would get the letter there in about the same time. LOL. She had a rubber stamp that had the words AirMail Only over a pair of Wings of some sort. She would stamp the lower L/H corner and affix the special airmail stamp on the cards envelope.
embryodad @ Embryodad....Yeah, I mentioned that the Christmas cards had to be done....the flustered post-girl did NOT seem too enthused. LMAO. I can hear the aggravation now. Oh and don't send to the dead again this year.
It is the one time a year that you can spend 44 cents plus the cost of the card to let someone know you are thinking of them. It should be done, and I will continue to send them. I love to get them too and hang them on a ribbon in my living room. I especially love the ones with family pictures!
I love sending Christmas cards. I stick in a hand-written note with family up-dates, sometimes photos, comments on things their family has been doing. I keep in touch with everyone at least this once every year. Some are to those I see frequently, some to friends from 38 years ago who have shared our lives and families all this time. It takes a lot of time, and I admit there were years the cards went out in January, but I enjoy it. I feel that if I can't add at least a few hand-written sentences, these people must not be important to me.
Ingrid I love sending and receving Christmas cards too ! I see the cards as one of the ways we keep family and giving in Christmas, not just shopping and spending. And the most special cards end up saved in one of our boxes of Christmas decorations at the end of each year. It means so much to see older cards with my Mom's and Grandmother's hand-writing in them now that they are gone.
hktownie I am a Christmas card saver from family and friends. I have boxes of them. Every year I always date them. I just can't throw them away. A few years ago I came up with an idea of resending them. I added a note saying I have saved this card and I'm now wishing you a Merry Christmas with it. I started with with oldest date 1975. I could do this for the rest of my years and never buy another card. The only cost are stamps and envelopes. I have a friend who loves getting them and looks forward to it every year. Some might say I'm a cheap.
I just got my first card of the season. Nothing hand-written on it, from the card to the envelope. To me that screams impersonal. I still enjoy sending and receiving cards and displaying them in my home.
Tracy I send out cards, but I have noticed over the years that I dont receive one from someone, unless I send one first. Sounds childish, but gets annoying. This year I dont think I will be sending any out. Cost too much. I will send email greetings.
botheredbyu I was at my parents today and the mail came. There was a Christmas card. I look at my Dad and say "can we open it"? He says "No! Mom gets pi$$ed when we open them before her. She wants to see who they are from first." I laughed! And thought to myself..."yeah, Christmas cards are STILL cool"
I don't send out many cards..but I do make them myself. This year, I'm actually going to use up the ones I've made for the last 2 or 3 years rather than make new ones.
Bessie 
grapes 
Jules, can you put me on your postcard list? :-D That is the coolest idea I've ever heard of for sending out Christmas greetings. Plus, people will keep your postcards forever for the recipes!
For a number of years, I would make cards with my favorite picture that I took that year. A bird in the snow, for example, would seem appropriate. But I also put totally incongruous images, too, just to be fun... like a crab in the sand or something. Last year, I was just totally lazy, though, and didn't send out any. I felt bad about it though, so I'll probably do the picture thing again this year.
Rebecka 
Rebecka - I attached a photo of one of the previous postcards. This is the front with a photo of the cookies I made and the recipe on it.
OMG those look like professional postcards, Jules! Wow. It must take you a while to do. So personalized.
Thanks for the nice comments on the pic, too, Chickadee.
gen3Townie,
I think you are correct in the reasons that you suggest for fewer cards these days.
Personally I like to send them and get them. I decorate the archways in the dining room with them on a ribbon, with the extras going on the door. I've already mailed mine out along with my mother-in-laws.
For those that find sending them a chore may I suggest the way I tackle the task? First, I sign the inside of the card and address them, in October. In November I type up a newletter to go into the cards that go to people I don't see all year. Some years a family photo will go into them also. Some cards will then get an added message if need be.
Postage isn't cheap at .44 and $1.05 for overseas, but when you think about the distance that the card travels, the news and thought that it carries, it's cheap to keep in touch with family and friends once a year.
A couple of years ago my mother-in-law went into a nursing home. She received cards from people who I didn't know. Those that sent cards with return addresses I mailed them a card back. In the card I told the sender that my mother-in-law was now in a nursing home and asked who they were. Mother-in-law wasn't sure about who some of the people were. If you are sending to an elderly person I suggest that you don't send it signed with just a last name on the return and inside. Also, make sure that there is a return address. When my mother-in-law lived with us she sometimes didn't hear back from people she sent send too. She oftened wandered if they passed away. Take the time to let people know if a loved one has moved or passed.
Looking forward to that first card to arrive!
Magpie Christmas cards?...a warm and welcomed tradition.
With recipes? Very apropos!
Enclosed, typed "newsletter" in card?.... a complete yawn and highly egotistical. If someone really cares about you and what's happening in your life, they'll call you! DUH
Christmas is about OTHERS.... not yourself.
hjc hjc,
I know some people feel the way that you do about newsletters but others feel the way that I do. I personally like hearing about what my friends and family have been up to the past year, especially the ones over seas. And, it's great when they include pics of the family throughout the newsletter. Not all people have cell phones and over seas mailings are costly, especially when you have many to send. The year that I was dealing with sickness in the family and didn't get the letter out before Christmas my friends and family said that they missed hearing the news and hoped that all was well and will be looking forward to getting one in the near future. As long as it's not a bragging newsletter I see nothing wrong with it.
I could go on about what Christmas really is but I won't turn this nice thread topic into something else.
My first card came today.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.
hjc, if you TRULY believe that Christmas is about OTHERS, why would it make you so mad that OTHERS take the time to tell you how THEY are doing? It seems like YOU have the "everything's about me" problem... if you really cared about others, you would welcome hearing news about them, no?
If a newsletter is well-written and at least marginally entertaining, it can be much more enjoyable than just receiving an impersonal card. If it's just a listing of accomplishments and stories about how Billy is at the top of his kindergarten class, then, at least it's comic relief for all of the people with the shared experience of having had the misfortune of reading it when they get together at the family holiday party. Win, win... lol.
ianimal I have not sent Christmas cards since my father passed away 17 years ago near Christmas. I just could not do it. BUT I have sent some to some very special people that have shown their friendship to me in a very kind way. I couldn't bring myslef to do it. My neighbor came to me after Christmas was over and said very angrily, "I didn;t get a Christmas card from you"! I stated very sad, "I am sorry I have been busy burying my father from a very sudden death. Her reply, :Oh so I guess I will get one after New Years?" Everytime I go and write one I hear this. I know its selfish in a way but I send them out to people who have been especially meaningful to me in the year. I always send out birthday cards to family members and write notes in them so its not like I dont have contact with them.
Christine @ joyful [Quote] embryodad: I love your Grandmother!!! I had one just like that.....[Quote]
Yeah! she was a piece of work! She wore elastic bands around her wrist; always had a bobby pin , a safety pin, and a toothpic!...
She picked her teeth every time she ate. She had a push bissel floor sweeper that I would sit on, as she swept up the food particles she spit out onto the floor!
She had most her teeth till she died at 96.
We burried her with her elastic band on her wrist, her safety pin, and her toothpic.
No!!...we didn't give a thought to the Bissel Floor Sweeper. We figured there would be no food bits...anymore! Poor Gram!
@embryodad..so funny you mentioned the safety pin, my mom always had a safety pin or two on her dress, "just in case". When she died (it's been 23 years), I kept a dress of hers and it had those safety pins on it. The dress is packed away, I can't part with it, and every once in a while I come across it, I touch those pins and think of her. Thanks for the memory :)
Calico696 @susan, thanks for sharing that story. I have 2 friends that send a newsletter and I enjoy receiving them. I feel so sad for you. Have you lost touch with the husband completely? Just curious.
Years ago I used to look forward to this one particular Christmas letter. It was always amazing accomplishments this family had. They spoke Italian one day a week at home, and summered in Italy. The husband and his family were brilliant, they were invited to a Space launch, as his father was involved with NASA. The husband was a professor at a Ivy League school and he was invited to speak internationally.
The young children had amazing minds from a young age. They
travelled extensively and their 2 children were of course bright and inquisitive.
I looked forward to this 3 page typed letter of their unbelievable life. I would make myself a cup of tea and really savor every written word. It was always some special adventures.
One Christmas the letter came, I made my tea and snuggled into a chair to read. The last letter was so sad. The lovely sweet Mother of these children had started developing headaches earlier in the year. She was diagnosed with brain tumor with no cure. They spent part of her last summer in Italy and came home for her to die.
I was heartbroken for the children, and the husband. This young mother gone.
We called to express our sorrow. We never received another Christmas letter from him.
We never saw him and the kids again. There had been times when they were in NY we would meet have dinner, see a play.
That. was my favorite Christmas letter ever. My ex thought he was boastful but the writing were like the pages of a journal. I still miss them.
Susan Canada Post is killing the tradition of sending Christmas Cards. Can anyone remember when cards needed a 3 cent stamp? Well now the cost start at 61 cents. If you take your cards to a small post office in a convenience store- a new Canadian will insist on weighing every card...If a card is slightly over 30 grams the cost goes up to $1.05 I was mailing 84 cards to Canada and 10 to the US, Australia and Germany. The new to this land man started weighing every card and some of the envelopes were going to cost upward of 2 dollars to mail. In fact at the end of the day it cost way more to mail the cards than it did to buy them in the first place. I am going to take my US bound cards to the states with me and mail them from there. A stamp of the interior of the country is 45 cents,,,Canada Post could come up with a special Christmas Card rate..but it doesn't and so fewer and fewer people are keeping up the tradition. Thanks Canada Post....
Bill McFarlane Our family established several long term associations with others all over the world while we lived out of the country. One family from Tasmania sends a Christmas card every year with a synopsis of everything that has gone on during the year. Their Christmas card list has got to be at least 100 strong so it's entirely understandable they don't write a 4 page letter with the same info every time. Another long time friend who moved to Arizona does something similar. They're great to catch up and yet there's always some additional personalized info. It's always nice to get those.
GC What's the update on the Christmas cards sent/received?
We sent out 41 cards on Dec 1st and to date have only received 5 from family and friends. Our 41 cards this year is a much lower count than in years past, but after discussing this issue with the youger folks in the family, apparently Christmas cards are becoming a thing of the past. Most of the grandkids/nieces/nephews (in their 20's & 30's) are using social media to send their Christmas/New Years greetings.
While we don't write a "brag-a-thon" letter to include with our cards, we do make a point to write a special message to each recipient.
Slade Just sent out my 123 Cards!! I don't care how many I get back, but I know I'll hear from my near and dear friends and family --- I send out a 'photo journal' of what my kids and us have been up to over the year and a quote from a Christmas Poem or Show.....
I am late this year but have about 1/2 done and out in the mail and have been doing a few each day as I get a chance. We have already received quite a few. I agree with trekster3---it really doesn't matter how many we get back. I also try to do what Slade is doing and inject a small note in each one especially to those we have not seen in a long time. Also have been going through old photographs and when I have found one of a cousin or family member inserting that in their card this year as well.
I sent out about 40 cards and have received 6 so far. Slade, don't give up hope for the younger generation, yet. :o)
I enjoy sending Christmas cards and usually write family updates to those who are close friends. Hopefully, will get to it this weekend. I am wayyy behind schedule this year!
I'll be sending mine out soon. I was going to do a photo card like I normally do but I've been a little preoccupied this month so I'll just be sending out store bought cards.
jrsemom 
I send cards out every year! I'm hoping for a few more, but I have gotten quite a few back so far!!
Lulu Hi Lulu! If I was young and single, I would ask you to send the shirtless young lad in the top, left card, instead of a Christmas card! Merry Christmas!
Peggy C. Getting my Christmas Cards out is my biggest Christmas stress, but I so enjoy receiving them. I, like everyone else am busy. If I eliminated the cards, I would save a ton of time. I have teenagers, and I send a picture card. Do you know the stress involved in making teenagers "say cheese".? But it's worth it. Not only do I put my kids' pictures in a photo album (no I am not an artistic scrap-booker) but I put the pictures everyone sends me in the same photo album. Since mail received brings me joy, I feel like paying it forward. If I bring one lonely person joy at Christmas by sending them a card, then it is worth it. I know receiving Christmas cards bring me joy. I get facebook, but I love getting fun mail - not bills; It is such an unexpected surprise. Merry Christmas everyone.
observer2 Sent about 60 and so far have gotten 19. Observer2, I do remember the stress of those teenage picture takes. One was always poking another one to ruin the picture. I do miss those days now that the kids are in their 20's and not all living at home now. I also put the pictures I get from family and friends in the albums that I put my pics in. I also save the Christmas letters that I send out and put them in my childrens baby books, as they are a time line of their past on what was going on in their lives.
I absolutely love christmas cards and took great pride in finding that perfect picture to send and type up a annual newsy letter. But I have since lost my job, and our finances are just so very tight, I couldn't do it anymore. So I send it via email. I send my same newsy letter with a picture and hope that my loved ones understand. I get 'some' cards in the mail. But I'm the only one who does the email. Oh well. We do what we have to. I feel that I'm still sending my cheer 8-)
Since starting this thread, we have sent ~25 cards and received 6...one of which was from our accountant and one from my college. Got one e-letter...but I only count snail mail cards as the real deal.
After the events of yesterday, though, all bets are off...can't blame anyone if they've lost the spirit right now.
Every year I send out about 30 cards, and each year I get fewer back. This year I notice a remarkable decline. I think I have gotten 4 or so. It may be that this tradition is, unfortunately, going by the wayside due to several factors. One... people are so harried, especially at the holidays and don't have the time or desire to sit down and write them. Two... it has gotten pretty expensive, and people just don't have the spare cash. Three... people rely on the computer and social internet sites to catch up now. I am feeling this may be my last year to carry on this tradition, because I am not sure they are even appreciated by those who receive them. :(
dr2mom Definitely get less and less cards as the years go by, and the ones we do get are very impersonal. Usually it is not a card at all but a printed photo card of someone's kids I really don't care about with a pre-printed statement like "Happy Holidays from the so-and-so family". Lame. I like to write out cards individually, tailored to each recipient. I think Cards are going the way of the telephone. People won't even pick up the phone to talk to you but they will send a text back in .025th of a second. Strange world.
eperot I probably sent out about 50 and have not counted but looks like most people sent one back before I even got mine out in the mail. I did notice a few more this year that the card was returned for insufficient address and when talking later with the people that they were sent to...they said they did not understand that as they did not move and most of them had the same address for the past 20 years.
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