One of my favorite Christmas time traditions is preparing, addressing and mailing out Christmas cards to family and friends. It is also great to anticipate and receive the daily delivery of cards everyday when the postman arrives. Sending someone a card to wish them well on the religious holiday they celebrate is meant as a happy greeting.
- Christmas cards. Sending and receiving Christmas cards is a way to communicate with our friends and loved ones who live near and far letting them know that you are thinking of them and hoping for their best during the Christmas holiday season. Within the United States of America, there are more than two billion Christmas cards exchanged annually. Christmas is the number one card-selling holiday of the year. The phenomenon began around 1822 in America. Cards are also being sent electronically in today’s world. Nothing compares of a handwritten signature and note wishing happiness for the season and next year.
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- The first American to print and sell Christmas cards was Louis Prang of Roxbury, Massachusetts, who began publishing cards in 1875.
- President Dwight D. Eisenhower is given credit for sending the first “official” Christmas card from the White House.
- Hanukkah, Las Posadas , and Kwanzaa Cards are also sent to friends and family as they celebrate in our classes. Cards can be bought at many stores. Hallmark Card Stores, e-cards, Shutterfly cards made on line, cards from Target, Wal-Mart, CVS and even grocery stores are places to purchase greeting cards throughout the year.
Being part of another’s celebration can only enhance your own. People of any faith can marvel at the beauty of a Christmas service or midnight mass. The wisdom and customs of Kwanzaa can be uplifting to all. An unfamiliar Hanukkah party can be a chance to bask in candlelight, eat delicious latkes and learn how to play dreidel. If you’re invited to new celebrations, by all means go! Your presence will be a great show of respect to friends and/or extended family.
Our big, beautiful world is filled with variation in thought and customs. Embracing those differences doesn’t mean diluting your own treasured beliefs and traditions. Celebrate and let celebrate! It’s all good—and we’re good, too, when we offer acceptance and tolerance. Families and countries are a blend of many cultures and traditions.
We started receiving our Holiday Cards this week from other schools with our Projects by Jen. So far we’ve gotten one from New York, Missouri and Ontario, Canada. The students get excited each time we open one. Ours will be mailed out tomorrow when we finishing putting them together. We have 60 cards heading out in the postal mail. Who will be the first one to get one from us? Where will the farthest one travel?
What a lovely idea to share cards in the mail. It is interesting to note that as people become more connected via the internet, less cards are received through the mail. The cost of sending a card has doubled in the last few years, making it an expensive thing to do, so many people now send e-greetings to friends. I love cards that include letters, so I can catch up on all the things my friends have been doing during the last year, and it’s always great to hear from people you haven’t had a chance to see – it’s a good way to catch up, but I do wonder if the tradition will begin to die as people send greetings in other ways, and the cost becomes too much. It used to be common to send 50 or 60 cards to friends and relatives. How many do you send out?
Mrs Monaghan