Seasonal Postal Greetings - A Thing of The Past?

A selection of past Christmas cards I've received and saved, displayed for the purpose of this blog post

Photo: Chronica Domus

When I was growing up in England, sending Christmas cards, or should that be holiday cards, as they are more commonly referred to in America, was an act which heralded the beginning of the Christmas season in our household.  My mother always wrote and addressed each card by hand, and those that were to be sent overseas were posted first, followed a week later by cards that would reach addresses throughout our fair isles. By mid-December, all of our cards had been safely dispatched via the services of the Royal Mail.

My sisters and I would delight at the postman's deliveries made in the weeks prior to Christmas because we knew there would be at least one, if not more, Christmas cards within the pedestrian pile of printed correspondence and bills that got pushed through our letterbox daily.  We looked forward to opening those cards as much as we enjoyed opening the little windows on our advent calendar.  If we received a card from foreign lands, as we did most years from friends and family that lived across the globe, we would study the interesting stamps and their designs, and then reflect upon how that country differed in its celebrations of Christmas.  The cards within those envelopes not only brought good cheer and merriment to our family, but also provided us the opportunity to think about the senders as it was unlikely we would have the chance of visiting them personally over the Christmas and New Year period.

My mother would display the cards we received on the mantel shelf and also attach them to little makeshift "clotheslines" as I called them, with tiny pegs, strung across backs of doors, or on ribbons cascading down the tall pocket doors of our drawing room.

Today, in my own household, I like to do much the same as my mother in terms of taking the time to hand-write and address my cards, and pop them in the mail within the first two weeks of December. I enjoy both sending and receiving cards, and have kept many of the ones sent to me over the years.  I do this for sentimental reasons, and for the fact that I enjoyed the design of the card that was thoughtfully selected and written to me.  They are reminders of friends and family, and that their generosity of spirit and good wishes still live on whenever I get the urge to look through my stack of saved cards.

For the reasons stated above, the modern trend for sending seasonal greetings via electronic-mail leaves me dumbfounded.  Does anyone actually think this is a good idea?  I am afraid that such electronic cards have as much longevity as the majority of junk mail that floods my e-mail box daily. These "cards" lack warmth and personality, and more than likely will not be seen by the other members of the family to which they are being sent.

I do realize one must invest a certain amount of time in sending cards during the holiday season and, of course, the nominal expense involved in acquiring said cards and associated postage fees. However, if you select your recipient list with as much care as you will have taken in your card selection and hand-written message, your thoughtfulness will reach your most beloved family members and friends, delighting and overjoying them with happiness, which is after all, part of the generosity of spirit associated with the Christmas holiday season.

Do you enjoy sending and receiving Christmas holiday cards through the mail, or have you succumbed to the more modern electronic trend of e-cards?