You’ve probably gotten at least one Christmas letter in your life. You know, the letters that people send out instead of greeting cards? They say what the person’s been up to and how the year has been? Some people love them, others hate them — the question is, who sent out the first one? When did the tradition begin? If you’re wondering who’s to thank (or blame) for the Christmas letter tradition, read on…
Old and New
How can something be both old and new? Well, Christmas letters are a prime example. The first actual Christmas letter was probably written hundreds of years ago. After all, commercial Christmas cards weren’t always available and the tradition of sending “greetings” to family members over the holidays has been around longer than the actual “greeting card” so it’s safe to say that Christmas letters were the original “Christmas greeting” of choice.
That being said, it’s important to note that Christmas letters as we know them today is a pretty recent development. After all, once greeting cards were made available actual “letters” to family and friends fell to the wayside. Thanks to copy machines and at-home printers, that’s all changed.
The New and “Improved” Christmas Letter
I received my first two Christmas letters in the 90s. One I loved and the other I hated. One was full of warm wishes and holiday cheer, the other was filled with “I did that” and “we did this” nonstop bragging.
I’m under the impression that the “oh I’m wonderful” Christmas letter tradition started in the 90s too (as the years go by the human race becomes increasingly full of itself). Personally, I prefer the less-bragging more thanking and rejoicing Christmas letter approach. It’s probably more in line with the traditional Christmas letters of yesteryear.
So this year if you decide to write a Christmas letter, remember that you are doing something that was done well before greeting cards or Hallmark were ever invented. And please, for the sake of sanity, make it a “How wonderful is He” letter and not a “How wonderful am I” holiday correspondence.
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