Pick a card. Any card.
Consider this Christmas card from Gilded Age Greetings. It costs $495.00 per card!
Or how about this one – a bargain for $395.00 per card.
Some of the company’s “better” cards can cost up to $10,000 each. According to their website: “Gilded Age Greetings are handcrafted with rare and fine materials, encrusted with diamonds, rubies and 24k gold. A personal message can also be added and will be delivered in a black silk box with white gloves to ensure the gift is handled with care.” Swanky! I thought you’d want to know. . . in case you haven’t already mailed out those crummy old cards you were going to send.
Or, you can be creative (also known as cheap) and create your own handmade Christmas cards. Try it. If you’re too embarrassed with the result, you can still go ahead and mail them. Just don’t sign your name.
That’s the way my family did it for years. Every December, my husband Gene got busy on our rattletrap typewriter (we didn’t seem to change the ribbon on a regular basis) and typed our annual Christmas report to relatives and friends. He was assisted with the graphic design by our seven kids. My job was to address the envelopes, add a note, and mail the “cards” to the lucky recipients.
Some excerpts follow.
Later on, the readability of the typing improved but we would never know whether anyone was actually reading the stuff Gene and the kiddies were cranking out. It’s odd, though. I was reading through them myself today. I ought to be embarrassed with the cosmetics of our primitive Christmas messages, but I still like them, and it reawakens my memory of how we were in those long ago days.
And the same goes for similar annual letters people send us for the holiday. I not only read them, lots of them are permanently saved with our photos and memorabilia. Their real value though isn’t for the recipient. It’s for the family of the sender. I hope that anybody who writes and sends out such Christmas letters will have the fun – like I just had – of re-reading them again a half century later! It’s priceless!
Have a happy Christmas, everybody, and stay out of trouble.
Those cards are a scream. I remember coloring a few of those, and how you made over them even though they were so simple. What a great idea for card decorations and sharing the job!
Ohhh, Mom. Thank you for highlighting these memories! I remember Dad’s typed letters, our illustrations, and fun growing up in our tiny household filled with people, pets and peanut butter toast! I also treasure yours and Dad’s devotion to God and prayer for all of us. May we all continue to thrive in our unique roles throughout this world. Peace, Comfort and Joy to all!
As one of the clan/s that were on the receiving end of those yearly cards, we loved catching up with the Fords every year! Always fun!
What fun! I also have saved many a Christmas letter from friends and family and love the reminiscing. I loved the reference to the train trip to Iowa! I love that memory of fun adventures. I’ll never forget watching you all fall out of the vehicles in your matching outfits. Today was a special peek back into the Ford house. 💕
I love seeing Dad’s comical drawings and his funny typed overview of Ford family life! He had such a good sense of humor and he was such a loving, supportive father. I did notice one of my Christmas drawings of Mary and Joseph included a four legged equine. Who knew Tractor Curt and Farmer Susan would end up living with a herd of our own. Hee Haw!!
Wow a blast from the past in terms of the visuals . Chris and I recently watched a continuation of the wonderful older film ‘Christmas Story’. A boy Ralph,his brother ,hilarious parents. The new 1 is an adult Ralph trying to recapture earlier Christmases. The letters you included sure reminds me of that era. Have a great Christmas & New Year.