r.i.p. Christmas cards?

[david bennett 8Participant @davidbennett8]

I know it's early, but shoulld we let chritmas cards just fade away now that we have excellent electronic messaging available. (Could also add suitable scenes of snowy robins to our message) Or am I being too much of a grinch?

dave8

[david bennett 8Participant @davidbennett8]

[BufferParticipant @buffer]

It is a bit early, but I gave up on them years ago. My Mrs does them all now and I don't get involved. I don't want to know how much she spends on stamps. She even does cards for her family who we see every day. I flick through them when they are taken down just before they go in the bin. So a total waste of time effort and paper. People say bah humbug to me and I had to Google it to see what they were on about. So yeah im with you let them go.

[david bennett 8Participant @davidbennett8]

Of course! I should have directed this to the wives -they are probably the ones who do the job. Please ask them. I have to do my own.

dave8

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi, well personally I think it's every ones choice to send greeting cards or not, so if you don't wish to send any to anyone, then don't, and I don't think there should be any campaign to have them stopped as there are plenty of people who look forward to getting them. Of course the original idea of sending greeting cards, was to send them to those people that they wouldn't be seeing during the festivity to which they relate, but these would just be a hand written greeting on a plain card, but of course it got commercialised, but many people do make their own cards to send, which adds a personal touch, which my elder sister did up to a couple of years ago, when she had developed dementia.

Regards Nick.

[Chris CrewParticipant @chriscrew66644]

Given the cost of even 2nd class postage these days I think more people will use Moonpig or Funky Pigeon, but having never availed myself of these online services I have no idea how much they cost. Also, at our age, some of the friends and acquaintances my wife and I did have in our thoughts at Christmas are no longer with us so the list get shorter every year.

Edited By Chris Crew on 17/07/2023 07:15:40

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

I was going to say, how many of us actually pulled our finger out and made the effort anyway??

Most guys are a waste of space or too mean to do xmas cards to start with

At the other end of the spectrum we got an American one once and it was about 3 pages of monotone concerning everything they had done during the year and it kind of freaked me out thinking about having to read 20 to 50 of those things, it was more like a diary than a xmas card

Xmas cards are very handy for maintaining relaxed polite social contact between like minded people

Edited By Ady1 on 17/07/2023 09:16:51

[Mike PooleParticipant @mikepoole82104]

I have never sent a Christmas card in my life, my wife has a long list and composes the dreaded news letter which the recipients say they enjoy, they may just be polite though. The present thing is also wasted on me, I can’t think of anything I actually want as anything in the normal range of presents I will already have. My wife insists that presents must be a surprise but I have long ago confirmed my belief that I am useless at choosing a present so don’t bother.
Mike

[OldironParticipant @oldiron]

Posted by Mike Poole on 17/07/2023 09:23:07:

I have never sent a Christmas card in my life, my wife has a long list and composes the dreaded news letter which the recipients say they enjoy, they may just be polite though. The present thing is also wasted on me, I can’t think of anything I actually want as anything in the normal range of presents I will already have. My wife insists that presents must be a surprise but I have long ago confirmed my belief that I am useless at choosing a present so don’t bother.
Mike

I maintain an Amazon list for people who insist I need reminding of birthdays & Xmas etc. I can add items I want & even list items Amazon do not stock. My wife does the same so I have no need to ponder the problem at the correct times of the year. Makes it easier for everyone. My wife does the cards so no idea how many go out.

regards

[lee websterParticipant @leewebster72680]

A friend of mine used a website that had a selection of video animations for all occasions, including Christmas. The videos had music to suit the mood, and you could add a personal message. I don't tnink she had to pay anything, but I could be wrong.

I am afraid that mister misery here is very much a fan of the beloved Christmas character, Scrooge. When my sisters ask me what I want for Christmas my reply is.

What I want, you can't afford. And what you can afford, I don't want.

Happy Humbug!

[Bob Unitt 1Participant @bobunitt1]

Posted by david bennett 8 on 17/07/2023 03:15:04:

I know it's early, but shoulld we let chritmas cards just fade away now that we have excellent electronic messaging available. (Could also add suitable scenes of snowy robins to our message) Or am I being too much of a grinch?

dave8

I don't think my 100 year old mother-in-law is too hot on computers, but she can still read a christmas-card if the writing is big enough.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

" Bah, Humbug! "

There are at least one ruddy-awful electronic "card" e-post agents about. I have received two of these horrible greetings-by-data-base things, the first making me think it an elaborate scam until I read the names and message somewhat obscured by the surrounding digital artwork.

I don't know their costs. I might reduce the number of cards and can deliver some to friends by hand anyway, but I would not touch these electronic things with a barge-mouse.

I think them tawdry and cheapskate by showing no imagination, little respect and an obvious desire to get the chore done with by the sender.

Yes, postage costs brass you might thing better spent on brass, but to be honest the price of a second-hand stamp is ridiculously low for what it does. It only looks a shock when you post a batch of letters or cards at one go.

[Philip RoweParticipant @philiprowe13116]

Posted by Nigel Graham 2 on 17/07/2023

Yes, postage costs brass you might thing better spent on brass, but to be honest the price of a second-hand stamp is ridiculously low for what it does. It only looks a shock when you post a batch of letters or cards at one go.

I think the Post Office might have something to say about you using second-hand stamps.

Phil

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Well spotted, Phil!

Err, I did mean second-class…..

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi Nigel. I guessed you meant second-class when I first read it. Anyone using second-hand new bar coded ones though, will get caught out straight away, as the bar codes are just like snow flakes, no two are ever exactly the same.

Regards Nick.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Is the idea to remove the need for franking, which itself is designed to mark the stamp as used? Most sorting is now highly automated, and has been for years; but I have occasionally seen stamps that missed being cancelled.

.

"snow flakes"…

Be these the pretty water-crystal types floating softly from the sky over the Norwegian mountains, or the USA sort with "wrong" opinions? Both?

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

I got caught by single snowflakes at the top of a Munro once, when my eyes could see properly

It was like being showered with hundreds of tiny watch cogs, very memorable

Nowadays I wouldn't see a thing

[david bennett 8Participant @davidbennett8]

Posted by Bob Unitt 1 on 17/07/2023 11:13:01:

Posted by david bennett 8 on 17/07/2023 03:15:04:

I don't think my 100 year old mother-in-law is too hot on computers, but she can still read a christmas-card if the writing is big enough.

Bob, what a coincidence! My 102 year old aunt died not long ago, and the train of thought led me to posting this. As I am now the oldest in the family, computers are only a problem for me. By the way, I am in no way calling for a ban, or using websites to compose a message for me. Just the computer version of an old fashioned letter.

dave8

[John Doe 2Participant @johndoe2]

Gosh, what a surprising question and direction this thread went,

And how very depressing. There is still something special, (to me at least), about sending or receiving a physical thing through the post, and the receiver opening and handling what you yourself handled, and wrote in by hand.

Doing it electronically requires about 1/100th of that effort, and to me that cheapens it considerably – because I know that someone can email a list to an E-Card supplier, and the same 'card' will be emailed – with the appropriate name added automatically on the header – to all on that list. That would take about 5 mins to do, but what is the point, if you can't be bothered to buy a set of Christmas cards from the local charity shop and send them yourself? Might as well not bother at all. Good grief.

So, apart from real cards and presents; What else don't people like about Christmas; Snow? Christmas day meal? Decorations? Christmas drinks? Church bells?

How depressing.

I do think the "round robin" letters about what the family have done in the year are questionable though; Very close to showing off, or oneupmanship, some of them.

[GeorgineerParticipant @georgineer]

Posted by John Doe 2 on 18/07/2023 00:02:20:

Gosh, what a surprising question and direction this thread went,

And how very depressing. There is still something special, (to me at least), about sending or receiving a physical thing through the post, and the receiver opening and handling what you yourself handled, and wrote in by hand.

Doing it electronically requires about 1/100th of that effort, and to me that cheapens it considerably – because I know that someone can email a list to an E-Card supplier, and the same 'card' will be emailed – with the appropriate name added automatically on the header – to all on that list. That would take about 5 mins to do, but what is the point, if you can't be bothered to buy a set of Christmas cards from the local charity shop and send them yourself? Might as well not bother at all. Good grief.

So, apart from real cards and presents; What else don't people like about Christmas; Snow? Christmas day meal? Decorations? Christmas drinks? Church bells?

How depressing.

I do think the "round robin" letters about what the family have done in the year are questionable though; Very close to showing off, or oneupmanship, some of them.

We just received one of those automated cards through the post to "celebrate" an anniversary. It should be overstamped "untouched by human hand".

And John, I must remember not to send you our family Christmas letter. I tell it like it really is, but with humour. From a purely selfish point of view it saves writing the same thing, or a sub-set of it, multiple times. And, after nearly forty years the collected letters make an interesting family history.

George

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

Anyone who mentions Christmas before the start of advent should be soundly thrashed.

[BufferParticipant @buffer]

John. Here are a few things for you. I generally find Christmas the most boring and dull day/time of the year. I feel as though I have to just hang around the house and can't really just slope off to my shed. Turkey is boring it's just a roast with a big chicken. Lee Webster described the present thing better than I ever could. Crackers are crap and just make a mess. Christmas pudding, gross. Brandy Butter no thanks Vodka Margarine would probably taste better. Wifey puts money in the cards to the Nieces and Nephews who are in there 20s with jobs and half of them never say thank you. Crap on the telly. Crap like Slade on the radio. Shops starting Christmas in September. Supermarket queues. Round robin letters, who cares (only the person who wrote it). And how many people are actually religious or go to church anyway nowdays. Go on somebody say Bah humbug to me again.

[david bennett 8Participant @davidbennett8]

For years now christmas has just been a normal average day for me. The worst thing about the run-up to it is doing the cards. It just seems to be a waste of time. I am fairly sure some of the more distant relations only send them to confirm they're still alive. Sad and lonely? I love it.

dave8

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Buffer –

"Bah Humbug!" There you are: quoted it again for you. Chas. D. has a lot to answer for!

The foods are literally a matter of taste of course, but you don't need watch the telly.

Nor do you need listen to Radio One (though these days Slade is probably Radio Two): try Three or Four. The former does celebrate the religious aspect of this mix of old Christian and pagan turn-of-year festivals, with such broadcasts as the Nine Lessons & Carols, and the EBU's European tour of live, mainly church, music.

I do agree though about the supermarket's nonsense, the Christmas stuff interrupted briefly by the horrible pseudo-Hallowe'en rubbish imported from the United States of Disney. It is usually possible to avoid the busiest times though.

I have long had round-robins from two couples. One is just a bland "look-what-we-and-our-[now grown-up]- children-have done" designed to make the recipient feel inadequate. When I learnt MS 'Access' I was tempted to create as an exercise, a database designed to create such letters as Reports from drop-down menus!

The other couple though is quite different. Similar family history but much less self-conscious and with lots of humour. Not only that, but the letter's A4 sheet is folded to form an A6-size "card", illustrated with a church identified by its name and town, drawn by the husband. He is a retired architectural-historian, so hand-drawing buildings was part of his professional skill. So although the same card to all, it is one made with a lot of personal thought and care.

Oh – and my grand-nephews and nieces do thank me – but these are young children! We adults don't exchange presents beyond immediate-sibling level (four of us).

.

My Christmas Day In the First Year of the Plague was the first I'd ever spent alone! Very pleasant too. An hour or so in the workshop, then chatting in the sunshine to my neighbour over the garden wall. A leisurely nominal Christmas Dinner with chicken (our family always had chicken not turkey, and anyway it's goose in English rather than US tradition) and a µ-wave Christmas Pud. Lazy afternoon with a bottle of beer, and the calm, non-patronising friendliness of BBC Radio Three. (No TV? I have no TV!)

.

Dave –

Cards to verify existence? Oh dear!

Most of mine are not family ones despite ours being quite extended by now, but to and from friends; and total around thirty. I can hand-deliver two batches, in my two caving-clubs. One is based 300 miles away in Yorkshire, but its Annual Dinner in November is a convenient opportunity for card-exchanging.

I never feel them a waste of time but I have reduced humorous cards relevant in some way to the intended recipient. Not sense of humour failure, but they are more expensive than "ordinary" cards. I am an RNLI "Supporter" though use some of that charity's cards, especially those illustrated with Giles cartoons!

Tricky one is a card to one of my nephews. He's probably secular, from our largely non-religious family with Anglican background, but he's married a Muslim. What to wish them?

'''''''

'Ere, 'ang on! Christmas/Yuletide/Hogmanay? 'Tis still the middle of Summer – still mid-Rally Season!

[John Doe 2Participant @johndoe2]

Christmas is what you make it.

I too, absolutely hate the commercialisation, and I just wish the shops would actually close for at least Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day. In my second career, we had to work on Christmas day to fly people abroad, which depressed me – not only because I had to get up at 0500 to go to work on Christmas Day, of all days; but that the customers actually wanted to drive to the airport and travel on Christmas Day ! What a waste of the one special day of the year, when there is a perfectly valid reason to stay at home and relax. They could travel before or after.

I am not religious at all, but I have been around churches for many years through bell-ringing, and seeing people dressed smartly attending a church at Christmas is special and has a fantastic atmosphere.

In my first career, I was part of the team broadcasting carols live from Kings College Cambridge, and I defy anyone not to be moved by the atmosphere of a good choir singing traditional Christmas carols.

But nobody has to watch television ! We generally listen to Radio 3 or a CD of classic Christmas carols. Or you can watch films of your choice on DVD, with the dual advantage of seeing your favourite film(s), and no adverts.

You can eat whatever you want ! – doesn't have to be turkey – we have goose or guinea fowl. The point of it is; it is a day for a really special meal which is both formal and relaxed, with good food and good wine, port, champagne. Treat yourselves !

One of my most memorable Christmases, we went to a lovely local pub with a few friends, after which we walked home together through the absolutely silent and empty snow filled streets. Utterly magical.

Christmas is what you make it. Perhaps I have a good imagination and a romantic outlook, but sending cards, seeing your children believe in Father Christmas, and the whole thing should be special and memorable. You don't have to be religious – you can enjoy it on a spiritual or romantic level.

.

 

Edited By John Doe 2 on 18/07/2023 11:28:21

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