Earlier this month I sat down to compose our annual Christmas letter. Right off I hit a snag. We didn’t actually do much this past year. I had total knee replacement surgery. My husband spent time skiing at Saddleback last winter and after the snow was gone, he concentrated on the novel he’s writing. I worked on genealogy and sorted and labeled a couple of hundred early twentieth century family photos. And that was about it—a very short note to go with holiday greetings. It also occurred to me that even though we don’t see most of them in person these days, a good portion of the folks we send this letter to already know all our news because we follow each other on Facebook.
I sent nineteen letters anyway, all in pretty green envelopes. My mailing list used to be larger, but I no longer feel the need to send cards or letters to “business acquaintances” unless they are also personal friends. At the same time, older relatives, as well as friends my own age (77), keep dying on me. Others are still alive, but no longer bother with cards or letters. With luck, I will receive Christmas cards, letters, or e-letters from most of the nineteen in return. Some will include photos, especially if there are grandchildren to brag about.
my parents’ Christmas card in 1951
Once upon a time—way back in the 1950s and 1960s—sending Christmas cards was something huge numbers of people did every year as a matter of course. In fact, my first “job” was helping my mom take orders for Christmas cards. We took three heavy sample books from three Christmas card companies—Wallace Brown, Marion Heath, and Tom-Wat—into people’s homes so they could make their selections. Our customers placed their orders months in advance for hundreds of cards with their names printed on them. With that many cards, not having to sign them by hand was probably a big help.
our Christmas card in 1971 when my husband was stationed at Oceana NAS
Back then, of course, there weren’t anywhere near as many ways to keep in touch with friends, especially those who didn’t live in the same town. No e-mail. No Facebook. No social media at all. Your options were limited to writing letters or calling long distance, and people who were watching their budgets were very aware that long distance rates varied by the time of day and the day of the week. Christmas cards were a once-a-year way to communicate that you were still thinking of them. Handwritten notes could be scribbled on them to add details to the season’s greetings.
At some point, the habit of sending Christmas cards morphed into producing an annual Christmas letter. First they were typed and xeroxed. Later they were generated on a computer and printed and often included pictures. These letters were sometimes included in a card, but just as often went out by themselves. It was a good way to catch up on news, especially with old friends you didn’t see in person. I’m not sure when I switched from cards to letters, but I’d done so by at least 2012. I’ve resisted other options, although e-cards come with computer graphics and music and would be easier on my arthritic fingers and both e-cards and e-letters save on postage.
What about you, MCW readers? Do you still send cards or letters? Do you still receive them? If you don’t, do you miss them? And how do you stay in touch with old friends who aren’t interested in joining Facebook, X, Bluesky, or any other social media platform? Inquiring minds want to know.
Kathy Lynn Emerson/Kaitlyn Dunnett has had sixty-four books traditionally published and has self published others. She won the Agatha Award and was an Anthony and Macavity finalist for best mystery nonfiction of 2008 for How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries and was an Agatha Award finalist in 2015 in the best mystery short story category. In 2023 she won the Lea Wait Award for “excellence and achievement” from the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance. She was the Malice Domestic Guest of Honor in 2014. She is currently working on creating new editions of her backlist titles. Her website is www.KathyLynnEmerson.com.
I send cards with letters enclosed. They go to people from various parts of my life, and a fair number are answered in kind. Lately I’ve also started receiving some long, newsy letters in the spring, when people have a different level of activity. Admittedly, my cards are usually the last ones to go out, seldom being sent before New Year’s. Although I waste time on FB, I purposely limit my contacts there, so most of the people on the card list aren’t in contact through social media.
Every few years I’m one of those spring Christmas letter senders, too. The good thing is that waiting gives me a chance to respond to news in the Christmas letters folks sent to me.
We used to send a family photo with kids but now it is just our dogs in the picture. Happy holidays! Write on.
This year I seem to be getting a lot of cards/letters with large (and I do mean large) groups of grandchildren in them. One friend also reported she’s now a great-grandmother! Makes me feel OLD!
Beth is a devout Christmas card sender, me…Nah. If the card industry had to rely upon me, they’d go broke. I’ve resisted the temptation for at least a decade now to randomly pick twenty people I don’t know across the country and send each a Christmas letter that borders on the absurdly insane, just to see what happens. Maybe 2025 will be the year.
Now there’s a scary thought!
I enjoy sending and receiving holiday cards. I save the nicest ones each year and put them up along with my other holiday decor. The artwork is fun and I love to be reminded of my friends’ lives around the world when I look at the cards hanging around the kitchen doorway. It should be noted that I do not use social media (at all) so card sending is something I will continue to to as long as I can. I do write emails to/from people. Interesting enough, when I decided to stop using social media, I let the important people in my life know that I’d only be communicating via email and texting and they were all totally fine with it and have admitted just fine! As it turns out, people really CAN live without social media (and I definitely have a lot more time for my hobbies and interests).
Thanks for your response. It’s good to know there’s life after Facebook, etc. Sadly, I seem to know (or be related to) a lot of people who are just plain terrible correspondents, no matter what the method. Of course, I’m not so great at it myself, so I shouldn’t complain. I can remember my mother keeping a “birthday book” full of dates and sending cards to all her friends and her friends’ kids. And of course, if anyone gave you a gift, you were expected to write a thank you note. Those days appear to be long gone.
Great memories. We’re close in age and I remember two mail deliveries during the Christmas season back in the 1950s and 1960s, each one chockfull of Christmas cards. My mom would string some kind of garland with clips made with the purpose of displaying them. They’d line the walls in the living and dining room. Bear in mind, in those days postage was $0.04. and if you didn’t seal the envelope $0.03! I sent cards, sometimes with letters, sometimes without until the advent of Jacquie Lawson cards. These days, my friends and I are more likely to pick up the phone than send ecards or email. There’s something much more personal about a voice. My college roommate and I exchange letters a few times a year to this day, and that’s in addition to phone calls.
Thanks for posting, Kait. I remember stringing up Christmas cards as decorations, too. I wish more people talked on the phone these days, but I have to say Facebook has been responsible for my being able to keep in touch with quite a few old friends from both high school and college. Those shared memories are priceless.
Dear Kathy, Yes I too still send out cards.
And not as many as I used to. It is the nostalgic part of me. And the younger generation in my family smiles at me at Xmas and thank me for the card. I guess that because they post on line they will never feel the thrill of waiting for the post person. My only sadness is when a card comes back because there is no person at that address, leaving me to wonder if they are still alive. I still enjoy picking those special cards. Don’t feel alone I am 77 years young also. I guess we are just a dying breed!
The Mainer