Advent Calendar – Christmas Cards

Most of our family lived in Ireland, Scotland and England so Christmas cards were the main way of keeping up with everyone. My mother is one of twenty one first cousins and this was the only time during the year that they would communicate, unless of course there was a birth, marriage or death.

The cards would be placed on the mantel over the fireplace in the living room.

Some cards held handwritten letters telling of the families activities during the year. It could be a small note on a card or several sheets of blue air mail paper. Sometimes a picture would be included to show the latest member of the family. This now includes pictures of grandchildren.

Mum would start her card writing early in December especially if letters were to be included. You had to have them in the post by a certain date to guarantee that they would arrive before Christmas.

Everyday when we got home one of the first things we did was to check the Christmas cards to see whose had arrived and what news they held.

©2010 – Blair Archival Research

2 thoughts on “Advent Calendar – Christmas Cards”

  1. And today we mostly just pick up the phone – we don’t have much anymore that give us that same joy of anticipation that you are talking about! I can’t imagine how much time it must have taken with such a large family!

    1. My mother used to call my grandparents every Christmas. In the early days you had to book your time for an overseas call. A few years later the long distance lines were so busy on Christmas Eve and Day that she started calling the weekend before Christmas. It was so expensive that talk was kept to a minimum but at least contact had been made.

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