Christmas Cards

Discussion in 'Holidays & Traditions' started by Ann George, Dec 9, 2017.

  1. Ann George

    Ann George Veteran Member
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    Today I had lunch with a neighbour who is starting to panic as she has not done anything yet about her Christmas cards. Apparently she likes to make all her own cards, especially for family, and because she is so busy this season with a lot of commitments it's going to be difficult to get them done on time. I have bought and made some hand made cards but I usually send store bought cards to family and friends and to those living out of country I'll often include a short letter. I have noticed the last few years that more people now are either mailing fewer cards because postage has become so expensive or are preferring to send them digitally because it's easier and there is often little or no cost at all. I guess we're old fashioned but we like getting cards in the "mail", especially from someone we haven't heard from awhile. I'm wondering though if this tradition is going the way of the dinosaur.
     
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  2. Missy Lee

    Missy Lee Veteran Member
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    I think it is a tradition long gone. I have not sent out for years myself. I much prefer a short phone call and in most cases it's cheaper than our postage in Canada which is nuts.

    Jackqui Lawson has some nice e cards for different occasions and I was thinking about a subscription to that this year but then again if everyone sends the same card in Lawson's Christmas then that gets pretty boring.
     
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  3. Babs Hunt

    Babs Hunt Supreme Member
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    My husband and I still send out Christmas cards to family and friends...but we have narrowed the list down over the years.

    For many years we had cards made with family photos on them to send to friends and family that live far from us and who we don't really get to see much of anymore. We would include a short Christmas letter with those cards too. Now our Family has grown so much that unless we can get someone to take a picture of us all together it is hard to find a card that can hold enough pictures of our whole family so it has been a couple of years now that we have not sent the photo cards...just regular ones.

    We do notice each year that we receive fewer cards than what we send out...but we just like to send cards so we will keep doing this as long as we can afford to do this. And hopefully next year at our annual Easter Family Reunion our whole family will be able to attend and we can get someone there to take a group family photo of us to use on next year's card.

    This is just a Christmas tradition my Honey and I enjoy doing together so we won't stop doing it until it isn't enjoyable anymore or the expense gets to much for us.

    I also do send ecards to some friends and family online too. :)

    We have one friend who each year sends us a card and a long Christmas letter catching us up on him and his family's life each year and it is always one of our favorites to receive.
     
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  4. Ann George

    Ann George Veteran Member
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    @Missy Lee, you're absolutely right ... short phone calls here in Canada can be cheaper than the postage for an average greeting card! If it's convenient, sometimes I will hand deliver the card or simply include it with their gift when I see them at Christmastime.

    @Babs Hunt, we had a cousin who, for many years, would faithfully include a family update with his card. It was both fun and interesting to read but sadly the tradition has not continued since his passing.
     
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    Last edited: Dec 9, 2017
  5. Hedi Mitchell

    Hedi Mitchell Supreme Member
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    Have about dropped out of the Christmas card giving myself. Now, I send one if they send one. I use to would take old Christmas cards and use the fronts as
    labels for presents, but do not get many cards anymore.
     
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  6. Missy Lee

    Missy Lee Veteran Member
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    Ann, I have my phone plan with Bell, I call anywhere in Canada with no time restricions and it is included in my cell phone package. So I pay nothing to call and last I checked it is over a dollar I think to mail something, not sure.

    Wonder what the postage is in the USA?
     
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  7. Babs Hunt

    Babs Hunt Supreme Member
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    @Missy Lee I can't remember if our stamps here in the US are 47 or 49 cents a piece. And it's no longer written on the stamps...I think it's 47 cents for each stamp. And of course a regular Christmas card would take one stamp.

    We don't send out as many cards as we used to but this is more because we don't send ones anymore to the people who haven't sent us one for years. But I have a lot of family members and we all send cards to each other every year so it does end up costing a little bit for those stamps. Still as long as we can fit the expense in our budget...we will. :)
     
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  8. Missy Lee

    Missy Lee Veteran Member
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    So then half the price of stamps in the USA. I wonder why Hallmark has not opened an online virtual card store. Or maybe they have.
     
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  9. Babs Hunt

    Babs Hunt Supreme Member
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    So far we have received only 2 Christmas cards. :(

    Since I love cards, I hate to see this tradition fading away but I have to admit that even I only sent cards to my siblings, children, and a couple of dear friends this year. And this wasn't because of the expense...it's just been a rough year in many ways and this was all I felt up to sending.

    I do have extra cards in case we receive some from people we haven't sent one too...but the way it's going so far...I don't think we will have to worry about that.
     
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  10. Ann George

    Ann George Veteran Member
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    @Babs Hunt

    We too have received only a handful so far, but expect to get more when we exchange cards with our church family and some of our neighbours. It does appear that the tradition of mailing Christmas cards is slowly becoming obsolete. Eventually stores will stop selling them and future generations will only be able to view them when on display in a museum.
     
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  11. Babs Hunt

    Babs Hunt Supreme Member
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    I don't think I will be around to see that happen so it won't bother me Ann. Who knows, if my children save all the ones we have received that I have kept over the years...maybe a few of them might end up in those Museums. :)
     
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  12. Holly Saunders

    Holly Saunders Supreme Member
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    yes so far we've only had 3 cards this year but it's been getting less and less each year...I don't send many cards out now either..just to my family, and to work colleagues but since I retired in July I don't have to do that now either.

    I send digital cards to my friends... but if I'm sending a gift to someone I'll put a Christmas card in with it..but the postage is so high here now, it's really expensive to send real cards
     
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  13. Babs Hunt

    Babs Hunt Supreme Member
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    Yesterday my husband was so frustrated that his vision has deteriorated so much that he couldn't see to write notes or address the Christmas cards he wanted to send to his side of the family and a few friends that I think he will not want to send any out anymore either. He was also frustrated when I took him shopping for cards for his side of the family and I had to read them to him so he could pick the ones that expressed his feelings for them. We always have enjoyed our trips to pick out special cards for our children and their families and spending time together writing notes in our cards and then addressing them and getting them out in the mail together. But with his vision going down so much, this year he did not enjoy doing this at all and just felt frustration at the whole thing. This tells me we will need to reconsider whether we want this to be a part of our Christmas traditions any longer.

    I am hoping that at our Easter Family Reunion we will be able to to take a good whole family picture that I can put on a card for next Christmas to send out to family and friends. And then I think that will be our last Christmas card send out too.
     
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