House of Hawthornes

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Vintage Christmas Cards

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I mailed out my Christmas cards today.

I felt a little old fashioned standing in line at the post office, stack of cards in hand, waiting for my turn to buy Christmas stamps. I bought the ornament stamps, BTW. It seems that in this day and age, fewer and fewer people are sending out cards.

Vintage Christmas cards and postcards

I remember sending out cards the very first year that I had moved out of my Mom’s house. It seemed a right of passage. I was a grown up now, in my eyes at least, so I was sending out my very own slice of Christmas cheer.

I used to endlessly scour the stores to pick out the exact card that I thought personified who I was. And even though what personified me changed each year, I just knew THE cards when I found them.

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Vintage Christmas cards and postcards

I would sit down on the floor in front of my coffee table, new pen in hand (had to be a new pen), cold beer hot chocolate in front of me and write out my cards. And not just sign them, actually write a little holiday blurb in each one specific to the intended recipient.

To say I used to enjoy Christmas card writing immensely would be an understatement. To say I am a little bit of a dork about all things Christmas related would also be an understatement.

Vintage Christmas cards and postcards

Now it seems that more and more people are doing away with sending out cards. Not sending them altogether or sending ecards instead. To me, opening an ecard is just not the same as opening up a paper card from someone. There’s something about the anticipation of seeing the cards come in the mail, opening the envelope, catching a glimpse of the pretty scenes on the front and reading the message tucked away inside the card.

Clicking, reading and having a giant dog wearing a Santa hat tap dance across your computer screen is just not the same.

Vintage Christmas cards and postcards

But with today’s new fangled technologies, ie Facebook and email, it seems like Christmas cards are not a necessary part of keeping in touch with someone. You don’t have to wait all year long to see that their kid got out of braces or they took a vacation to Hawaii. Their life is all in front of us daily, if we choose to accept them as a “friend”.

I wonder, if in five years, I will send out cards at all.

Vintage Christmas cards and postcards

Do you still send out Christmas cards?

And why is the snow cat above smoking pipe?

Vintage Christmas cards and postcards

Please feel free to print out any of the images and use in your holiday crafting.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. I wasn’t going to send out cards this year with all the ‘extra’ stress that happened of late, but decided that it was more important than ever. I still love going to the mailbox to see cards and family pictures this time of year. Love your vintage postcards, Pam.

  2. I still send cards and did so this year. I love to send them and get them but get fewer and fewer each year. Oh and the cat is smoking a pipe because it’s a snowman ‘cat’ corncob pipe…you know! LOL@ Love the vintage postcards.

  3. I still send them to people I don’t talk to all the time. But the old saying, “you gotta send em to get em ” isn’t necessarily true. Too many are just not sending. Glad you do!

  4. Uh huh, we did. I actually love doing them and going to the PO for stamps. I so look forward to getting them as well. Our list has dwindled from a high of 300 back in the active duty Navy years to 100 now but I still enjoy it. : )
    Love,
    Sue

  5. Very nice vintage post cards. A friend and I were just talking this morning about only sending cards to those we don’t see very often. Knowing me I’ll be the “different” one sending more cards than ever once everyone else stops.

  6. I still send them out. I have always done a Christmas letter and pictures. I always get reponses that how they liked my letter…..wonder what they really think. My husband called me a Bah Humbug this year because I didn’t write a letter. He loves them, prejudice. But I felt like you said…..everyone already knows everything. I sent the picture of my grandkids that is on my blog.
    I get very few cards each year….but I still send them. Love getting the mail in December. I just wonder if there will be postal service in five years.
    I have no idea why that cat is smoking a pipe. Makes you wonder what is in it with all the other furry ones waiting there turn…..smile.
    ((((((HUGS)))))

  7. I do send out cards…and I will continue to do so, why? because I am a stubborn German who thinks that is what is the way to send a greeting!! I love getting cards, but I think I have gotten maybe 10….it is so sad to me. A tweet saying Happy Holidays just doesn’t do it….and
    have NO IDEA why cat is smoking a pipe…but I do hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas!

  10. You sound like me in the old days. I’d spend hours picking out perfect cards to send. Writing little personal notes inside each one, with a NEW calligraphy pen. But somewhere along the way, postage went up and the people I was sending them to stopped sending cards back. Everybody started sending wishes via e-mail. So that’s what we do now. I still get excited about opening their messages. That silly cat smoking a pipe is a tad bit disconcerting. Take care.

  11. Joe and I always send cards and love that personal touch. It is special just as you said to receive a card in the mail. I have zero use for Facebook and have never sent an e-card. Perhaps I am a dinosaur but I like the way we live and technology never replaces how we touch people in real and tangible ways.

  12. I love sending out Christmas cards and finding just the right one is half the fun! I think as long as I can afford stamps and the cards I will do so! New follower :0)

  13. I LOVE to get Christmas cards in the mail, so I still send them. When our girls were home we made photo greeting cards with their picture on them. I still make photo cards, but now I add a wintery picture that I have taken.

  14. Yes, I still send them out and I still recieve them but every year it changes. Some have passed on and some are new friends. I think it is a nice tradition but it’s not getting any cheaper!~Hugs, Patti

  15. I did the same thing as you when I was first out on my own, find the perfect cards and write a message to each person. I still write cards, mostly to friends out of state so I still add a short message. Each year I say this will be the last but then I go ahead and do it anyway. I have never sent an e-card nor received one…thank goodness!
    By the way, love your postcard images!
    Merry Christmas!
    Faye

  16. Just sent out a bunch of cards today. I wasn’t sure I’d get any done, but I at least like to send some to those I received cards from and others who I only hear from once a year. I did send out a little Christmas video to folks who are nearby and I see more often. I would much rather give and receive a personal note with a paper card.

    the snow cat has a pipe because you always see a pipe in a snow creature’s mouth. I think a mouse would have been cuter, though.

    Merry Christmas !

  17. I have sent them out for the last 40 years, so I’d hate to stop now…but we receive less and less each year. I still love to receive them…and will be mailing ours out tomorrow!

  18. You are just like me. I do cards. Its tradition and one that I love to do and I pick mine just like you do. And I will wait for the right one to call to me.
    I am very picky about mine.
    I send notes in mine. I love to get them. I love to check the box every day to see if one came.
    I only have about 11 this year so far.
    Its sad, but I’m not stopping.
    Its one of the best things about Christmas.
    I start on mine Thanksgiving afternoon- while the guys are watching football games. I have done this for years, since 95.
    It was the first year without my grandma and mom. I was the only “girl” so I needed to find something to do and working full time with 2 kids, well, I needed a head start to make sure I had them done. I still do it that way.

  19. I send out less and less every year. I remember when I used to send at least 50 cards every year! This year I only sent them to the people I knew we wouldn’t be seeing. Not surprisingly, we have received very few cards this year!

  20. I don’t send cards, but still receive a few from younger family members who have small kids. We get to see how they’ve changed from year to year, since we don’t see them often. I always looked for the prettiest cards to send back in the olden days. I tended to buy “vintage” looking ones, even then. And that was many, many years ago! Hope you’re having a wonderful holiday season, Pam! Hope we can get together soon.
    Christmas hugs, Sue

  21. I always send out photocards of the kids…for New Year’s! I can’t ever get my act together before then, and it’s one less thing I have to to deal with for Christmas. lol!

  22. I usually send them out, but this year just haven’t gotten to it. I did a lot of extra cleaning and primping around my house this year so I never took the time. Guess it’s not too late…yet. I have not received as many cards this year either.
    You would like the vintage Christmas candles I just picked up…25 of them! I’ll probably post them soon. They are all very sweet little angels, elves and santas.
    As for the Snow cat…I think he’s following in Frosty’s footsteps with the pipe. Hope your family has a blessed Christmas, sweet Pam. Best, Vicki

  23. Yes- I am one of those dorks that still sends out cards- scads of cards. I think I keep the post office in busines in my little part of the world. Both my girls are dorks, too, they send out a whole slew of cards, too. I love the “chase” of finding the perfect card, too! xo Diana

  24. I sent mine out yesterday with angel stamps. I didn’t have my glasses on.. They looked like angels to me? He, He.
    Anyway, I agree. Every year I send cards. E- cards aren’t the same. You know I really enjoy shopping for them and all that goes along with the card itself.
    We are just Old Fashioned I guess 😉
    xxx Liz
    Ps. I loved your comment about my post. His underwear.. LOL!
    She must be washing them

  25. Hi Pam-

    I still chose my cards carefully, enjoy sending them out with personal messages, and think I always will! I got mine out this past weekend. I don’t have too many people I send to, so it doesn’t seem like a chore. The cards we receive are taped to our front door for everyone to read and admire.

    Where did you get these cute images? Love ’em. By the way, my husband is the same way, choses his own cards, and sends his own out, so we kind of split the chore! Works for us!

    -Pam

  26. Love the postcards! Why the heck is the snow cat smoking a pipe? Is that the kitten’s version of a snowman? lol We still send cards. xoxo

  27. The postcard graphics are so pretty. Not sure why that silly cat is smoking a pipe, though! I still send out cards (approx. 80 this year). To me, it’s all part of the holiday season- picking the cards, adding a small note and/or picture, stamping, sending. I do not like e-cards- too impersonal.

  30. The cat is smoking because he is a “cat snowman”. Love collecting these old postcards. I put them in shadow boxes with old family photos and the old family ornaments. A way to perserve family memeots and memeories.

  31. Absolutely….i will admit about five years ago i sent out over fifty cards and only RECEIVED back about 20 so i wrote down who all went to the trouble and stuck with mostly just those the next year with a few extras and new additions to family and friends lists. Gotta take into consideration my mother was married numerous times so i still have step dad’s and a few ex step siblings out there and thats the only time we catch up is via cards….then i got married twice (so thats a whole former family with my daughter from the first one to also send out and his mother had eight brothers and sisters when i married him….now there is only three but still) My husband of 27 years now has Jehovahs witness kin way up in Idaho and i did accidentally send them cards the first year because i knew nothing about them but that was corrected politely so that elimated my paw in law and HIS twelve brothers and sisters…ha) EVEN THE PEOPLE im gonna SEE on xmas day or eve or during that week gets cards from me but only about half go to the trouble and i use calligraphy pens for the addressing and return address and an old fashioned wax seal for the back also. This is a nighttime watching good hallmark movie ALONE in my room thing and i enjoy it myself and its done way before the week of xmas to give them a chance to send a return card of course. (i can hope) i had two fireplaces i would string them on way back in the day and didnt hang stockings on the mantels…..then i just bought a sleigh basket eventually. I have a BOOK too i keep on my desk with all the addresses and the past five years of “sent” and “received” pages in them. After a few years of not receiving i just mark thru them ….selfish, maybe a little, but hey, i make time for THEM and spend the money on the nice cards and postage….least they can do. What i HATE is when you send a bunch out and four of them just HAND YOU THEIRS at a gathering….that kinda spoils the fun folks.

  32. I still send out cards!!!!! As I get older though I always feel a bit sad, when going through my list, to see the names of folks that are no longer with us. I still leave them in my card book though as a reminder of them. I like to think of them even though I can’t really contact them. I am sure that the folks who now live with their facebook accounts don’t see the need. But they are missing out on the thrill of actually getting something in the MAIL…. not just a quickie on the screen. Oh well….. I shall continue. Glad there are a lot of others that still fell that way.

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