Who doesn’t love a Christmas card? They’re one of the most cheery aspects of the festive season – a personal little note from someone you know and care about at this special time of year.
OK, that probably sounds utterly twee, but there is no denying that Christmas cards make us happy and that everyone, yes, everyone, wants to receive them. Pop them on the mantelpiece, pin them on your notice board: wherever they go they brighten up and cheer up even the most humbuggish of us. Yet there is a terrible danger threatening our beloved, glittery messages of Christmassy cheer.
A general lack of card-sending enthusiasm is sweeping the world. With the progression of modern technology the paper card is gradually fading away. The number of cards received, on average, by American households has fallen from 29 in 1987 to 20 in 2004. Texting, social networking sites and (the ultimate enemy) E-cards have reduced the importance of the traditional Christmas card. Faster, cheaper and certainly more eco-friendly, electronically sent ‘Season’s Greetings’ are gaining popularity.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s no way that I want to sound remotely ungrateful for whatever form of Christmas message I get, but there is something extra special about a handwritten card with which a jolly bit of WordArt from the internet can never compete. That someone has bothered to think of you and take the time to post you something, in an age where everything and everyone always seems to be in such a hurry is, I would argue, part of the true spirit of Christmas. That personal touch makes them all the more important and meaningful.
There’s something rather lovely about a card. It is a throwback to a bygone age – where people actually had to go to the bother of purchasing a stamp instead of a mere click of a button and an instant message popping up onscreen. We might picture the Jane Austen heroine scribbling away and poring over a wax-sealed parchment. Imagine Lizzie Bennet reading an E-Card from Mr Darcy! I don’t think so! The essence of the effort and personal touch of the handwritten has far more magic than a bland Times New Roman font on a screen. Reading an email feels far more like work than pleasure!
It is the Jane Austen idea of letter writing that attracts many of us, I suppose. The Tradition is all part of Christmas and it’s sad to think that cards might possibly in a few decades cease to exist altogether. This is why, dear reader, I hope you will take on board my words – save the Christmas card! With Oxford terms being so short it is even more crucial for us to be organised; my cry to you is ‘Pidge it Please!’ Next Christmas, in the first week of December, make a list, buy some cards and do a pidge drop around the city. Everyone appreciates something a little different in their post – how wonderful it would be to discover waiting for you not a freshly marked essay on the last few days of term, but a Christmas card!
As for the artistically talented amongst us there is absolutely no excuse – use your skills to create your own, handcrafted personalised cards. There is of course the argument that cards are an utter waste of paper, and that E-cards are far better for the environment. But if this is weighing on your mind give it not one more thought! If it will ease your conscience why not recycle the cards you yourself receive? Throughout January, WH Smith, TX Maxx and Marks & Spencer are running such schemes in association with The Woodland Trust. Equally you can do a good deed by choosing a charity card. Cancer Research, the RSPCA and many more organisations produce their own cards for Christmas – if there is a charity close to your heart why not support them at the same time?
You may well laugh at my over-enthusiasm but just think about it. How would it be if no one bothered? Just imagine if, this Christmas, you had not received a single card – no one had remembered or thought of you. A sad thought isn’t it?
Or do you perhaps agree with that famous crusher of Christmas spirit, Mr ‘Bah Humbug’ himself? As Charles Dickens wrote “If I could work my will,” said Scrooge indignantly, “every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas’ upon his lips should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. He should!”
