Christmas Cards

In the 1970 film, Diary of a Mad Housewife, Richard Benjamin plays a husband who is as pretentious as is he is insecure.  At one point he asks Carrie Snodgress, who plays his wife, how many Christmas cards have they received so far?  She tells him 150.  He seems miffed and says they sent 300 and he surely expects to receive as many. 

That was 1970 when stamps cost six cents.  I spoke with Wayne Orshak, Cranford’s Postmaster, and he told me that volume has steadily declined as postal rates have increased.  He also said that the heavy volume during the holiday season has become compressed.   Years ago the Christmas mailing season started on the Friday after Thanksgiving and ran until the 18th or 19th of December.  Now, it begins later and ends later with Monday, December 20th expected to be the busiest day.

My earliest Christmas card memory isn’t a card but a Christmas seal.  My parents always put the Boys Town
seal on the cards they sent. The image on the seal was of a boy standing in the snow with another boy draped over his shoulders.  The caption on the seal was, “He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother.”

Film buffs may remember Spencer Tracy’s portrayal of Father Flanagan in the 1938 classic, Boys Town.  Mickey Rooney plays a runaway, the movie ends happily and Boys Town is founded.  Boys Town, renamed Boys and Girls Town, continues to serve troubled youth providing help, healing and hope to more than 40,000 children last year.  It’s been years since I’ve seen a Boys Town Christmas seal.  In fact, I don’t see very many Christmas seals at all.

The seals were used to make the card more festive, to differentiate them from the rest of the mail.  Most people bought cards, stamps and Christmas seals and while there was a cost involved, it didn’t put too much of a dent in the family budget.  As the price of stamps and the cost of Christmas cards continued to rise, people began to rethink the time, effort and expense involved in the whole process.

The United States Postal Service certainly noticed that card senders were using seals and began to issue and market Christmas Stamps.  The first stamp, a wreath and candles, was issued in 1961 and sold for four cents. In 1966 the postal service issued its first religious Christmas stamp, Madonna with Child, and it cost a nickel.  The Madonna and Child stamp has been a mainstay and is issued every year.  The artwork is always from the Renaissance Period and the painting chosen bounces back and forth between several different artists as the cost of first class postage changes. 

Christmas is celebrated in our churches for its religious significance.  Christmas is also a National Holiday and the postal service appreciates that many who celebrate the season aren’t necessarily religious.  There’s always a stamp featuring snowmen, sleighs, ornaments or as is the case this year, Santa Clauses and Reindeer.  Several years ago the postal service began to issue holiday stamps for Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.  This could be indicative of the postal service’s desire to be more inclusive, or perhaps they’re trying to sell product and increase sales.

The United States Postal Service will print in nearly 1.1 billion Christmas and Holiday stamps this year.  The way this breaks down is - Madonna and Child  - 776 million, Santa Claus and Reindeer – 201 million, and Hanukkah and Kwanzaa – 60 million each.  If all the stamps printed are successfully marketed, the postal service will realize roughly $406 million.

The youngest of my daughters, Tierney Ann, told me she looks at a postage stamp as a miniature work of art.  I agree. I think postage stamps are the best selling artwork in this country. 

I’ll mail 30 to 40 Christmas cards this year.  Most will go to people I don’t see nearly as often as I’d like.  As I grow older there is too little time and too much distance between too many of my friends and me.  I’ll write a note in every card and promise to do a better job of staying in touch than I have during the past year.
Marc Kelley is a resident of Cranford and can be reached at mkelley@eclipse.net.