Advent Calendar of Xmas Memories 12/4

Prompt for
December 4 -
Christmas Cards -

Did your family send cards? Did your family display the ones they received? Do you still send Christmas cards? Do you have any cards from your ancestors?

I grew up in a card-sending family, and I continue that tradition. My mom has sent out Christmas cards to family and friends for years and I think I started doing so around age 12. Above is the one I sent in 1970 (this to my pen pal Mimi, who gave it back to me about 25 years ago).

Mom had lots of creative ways to display the cards we received. To the left is one way she did it, in 1968.

One year she used some ribbons to hang them on a wall or a door. She didn't do it that way for long, but she kept the ribbons, and somehow I ended up with them by the time I got my own apartment in 1979. I still use those ribbons today - in fact, once I hang up the cards on the study door, they stay up until the next Christmas season. To the right are the cards I received in 1980:


We have a couple cards from my husband Mark Gresham's ancestors. At left is the one his parents (Francis and Jewel Moore Gresham) sent out in 1942 (I believe), with a photo of toddler Mark on the cover. Below is a card Mark's parents received from Mark's paternal grandmother, Betty Dickson Gresham. It was sent sometime after 1940 (Mark's paternal grandfather M.E. "Ellis" Gresham's died in February 1941) and before 1976, when Betty died.


(This is post 4 in the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories hosted by Geneabloggers.com. This post was originally published December 4, 2009.)

© Amanda Pape - 2010