Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - December 2 - Christmas Cards

I remember as a young child being so excited when Christmas cards started arriving. If the card was addressed to Mr. & Mrs. and family, one of us children could open it. On rare occasion, if the card was from a close family member, you might find a photo inside. That was a special treat.

As we grew older, married and started our own families, things had changed and photos were often included in cards. It was especially fun to get photos from friends you didn't get to see often. I've saved those cards and photos over the years and have created scrapbook. Perusing the scrapbook is like watching my friends' children growing up.

Christmas Card 2013

The last two years I have sent out a different kind of Christmas card. It was sent only to my family. I love the card from 2013 shown at left. It shows six of us children around the tree, probably about 1963, the three youngest were not yet born. We are all wearing matching pajamas sewn by my mother and given to us as Christmas gifts that year. Her sewing room was the bedroom/dining room off the kitchen and I remember hearing the sewing machine whirr after we were all in bed for the night. What a labor of love that was!

The Stover families
Christmas Card 2014

Last year I sent out a Christmas card with my great-great-grandparents, Knut and Guri Stover together with his sister and her husband, Gunild (Stover) and Torvald Mathison. The families came from Norway and lived first in NE Iowa before moving permanently to the Hendricks, Minnesota area. I love using old photos on my greeting cards and plan to continue doing so.


Christmas letters have frequently been given a bad rap. Everyone suffers from the Lake Wobegon effect: their children are better looking than average, smarter than average, and more successful than average. But I have always enjoyed receiving and reading those letters. In just one letter I get a recap of the sender's entire year recounting vacations and major life events like weddings, the birth of children or grandchildren. What genealogist wouldn't like that?

Grandma Myrle's Christmas letters
dated 1949 to 1967

My grandmother, Myrle, saved a copy of most Christmas letters she sent. In her holiday letters she talks about her grandchildren (my immediate family and my cousins). She also talks about her friends, her travels and her older sister, Althia. The letters were written between the years 1949 and 1967 and make for some interesting reading.

Myrle tried to write her autobiography a few times but but it was very incomplete. She really only wrote about the early years so these letters shed some light on her later years as well.

We don't get nearly as many Christmas cards as we used to. And I kind of miss those days. But I am happy that I am able to connect with friends and family via social media and share photos and greetings in that way. In fact, I recently shared my grandmother's Christmas letters in a private Facebook group so that other family members could see them. So even though we don't get the photos and greetings in the same fashion, we are still able to share with friends and family during the holiday season.

"The Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories (ACM) allows you to share your family’s holiday history twenty-four different ways during December! Learn more at http://adventcalendar.geneabloggers.com.”