Put me on your Christmas mailing list.A few start to arrive shortly after Thanksgiving. Most come from mid-December to the eve. Some come during the proverbial 12 days. I love them -- Christmas cards, all shapes, sizes, styles. People who think this custom out of fashion, ecologically unsound unsound said of an animal, usually a horse, which has been examined for soundness and found to be unsatisfactory. , or otherwise not politically correct politically correct Politically sensitive adjective Referring to language reflecting awareness and sensitivity to another person's physical, mental, cultural, or other disadvantages or deviations from a norm; a person is not mentally retarded, but are wrong. True, the ever-rising cost of paper, postal-rate increases, and the hectic pace of contemporary life militate against this wonderful practice. But to me these are but lame excuses. The tradition of Christmas cards did not begin with Christ or the apostles, not even with pope. Historians trace the origin of Christmas cards to England in the 1840s, either to artist William Egley who designed and sent cards to friends, or to John C. Horsely who designed cards for Sir Henry Cole in that same decade. In the U.S., a German emigrant EMIGRANT. One who quits his country for any lawful reason, with a design to settle elsewhere, and who takes his family and property, if he has any, with him. Vatt. b. 1, c. 19, Sec. 224. , the printer Louis Prang, gets credit for introducing Christmas cards in 1875. I love cards made by senders. Most years my Christmas card season is inaugurated by my Canadian friends in Calgary, calligrapher cal·lig·ra·phy n. 1. a. The art of fine handwriting. b. Works in fine handwriting considered as a group. 2. Handwriting. Noreen Monroe Guzie and her husband, Tad. Their card arrives early in December. Elizabeth and Patrick O'Brien, friends from Jacksonville, Florida, send cards made by Elizabeth. Their greetings usually arrive a day or two before Christmas. From Australia comes Kate Scholl and Alec Nelson's Christmas greeting, a family newsletter. It contains brief articles and pictures of their past year's activities, a popular contemporary derivation of the Christmas letter. One card always used to arrive several days after Christmas. The sender enclosed his Christmas homily homily (hŏm`əlē), type of oral religious instruction delivered to a church congregation. In the patristic period through the Middle Ages the focus of the homily was on the explanation and application of texts read or sung during the . It was always a pleasure and inspiration to read. Unlike some other pulpit presiders, he took his ministry as a homilist hom·i·ly n. pl. hom·i·lies 1. A sermon, especially one intended to edify a congregation on a practical matter and not intended to be a theological discourse. 2. A tedious moralizing lecture or admonition. seriously. His departure from the priesthood ended this unique Christmas season greeting. All cards are great to receive, especially if they contain a few lines of personal greetings and news. Christian Brother Leo Jones, for example, never fails to include a few handwritten hand·write tr.v. hand·wrote , hand·writ·ten , hand·writ·ing, hand·writes To write by hand. [Back-formation from handwritten.] Adj. 1. lines. I receive few if any cards imprinted with senders' names anymore. Either I've been dropped from these peoples' lists, or the custom is now out of vogue. That's fine with me. A printed name on a Christmas card is too antiseptic for my tastes. Dick McGlynn from Lubbock, Texas was the first person to send me a Christmas greeting by e-mail. Although this custom is growing, I have yet to download an e-mail card complete with impressive iconography. I recently purchased a full-color printer anticipating this cybernetic cy·ber·net·ics n. (used with a sing. verb) The theoretical study of communication and control processes in biological, mechanical, and electronic systems, especially the comparison of these processes in biological and artificial systems. trend. It's not too late to grace this season with cards. Whether handmade or store-purchased, early- or late-arriving, snail-mail or e-mail delivered, Christmas cards are a welcome bit of personal greetings in an increasingly impersonal world. Merry Christmas. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion