Christmas

=== Cards ===
{{Main|Christmas card}}
[[File:Christmas postcard 1907.jpg|alt=|thumb|upright|A 1907 Christmas card with [[Santa Claus|Santa]] and some of his reindeer]]

Christmas cards are illustrated messages of greeting exchanged between friends and family members during the weeks preceding Christmas Day. The traditional greeting reads "wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year", much like that of the first commercial [[Christmas card#History|Christmas card]], produced by [[Henry Cole|Sir Henry Cole]] in London in 1843.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1679110.stm "Christmas card sold for record price"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060205200933/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1679110.stm |date=February 5, 2006 }}, BBC News. Retrieved October 28, 2011.</ref> The custom of sending them has become popular among a wide cross-section of people with the emergence of the modern trend towards exchanging [[E-card]]s.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Schaverien|first=Anna|date=June 19, 2021|title=E-Cards Are Back, Thanks to the Pandemic|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/19/business/e-cards-pandemic.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211228/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/19/business/e-cards-pandemic.html |archive-date=December 28, 2021 |url-access=limited|access-date=November 13, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=It's time to mail your holiday cards – if you can find any|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/time-mail-holiday-cards-can-find-rcna4262|access-date=November 13, 2021|website=NBC News|date=November 2, 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

Christmas cards are purchased in considerable quantities and feature artwork, commercially designed and relevant to the season. The content of the design might relate directly to the [[Nativity of Jesus|Christmas narrative]], with [[Nativity of Jesus in art|depictions of the Nativity of Jesus]], or [[Christian symbols]] such as the [[Star of Bethlehem]], or a white [[dove]], which can represent both the [[Holy Spirit]] and [[Peace]] on Earth. Other Christmas cards are more secular and can depict [[Christmas tradition]]s, mythical figures such as [[Santa Claus]], objects directly associated with Christmas such as candles, holly, and baubles, or a variety of images associated with the season, such as Christmastide activities, snow scenes, and the wildlife of the northern winter.<ref>{{Cite web|date=November 28, 2012|title=History of Christmas – Part 2|url=https://www.americanstationery.com/blog/history-of-christmas-part-2/|access-date=December 22, 2021|website=The Note Pad {{!}} Stationery & Party Etiquette Blog by American Stationery|language=en-US}}</ref>

Some prefer cards with a poem, prayer, or [[Bible verse|Biblical verse]]; while others distance themselves from religion with an all-inclusive "Season's greetings".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Pruitt|first=Sarah|title=The War of Words behind 'Happy Holidays'|url=https://www.history.com/news/the-war-of-words-behind-happy-holidays|access-date=December 24, 2020|website=HISTORY|date=September 2018 }}</ref>