Active Stocks
Thu Mar 28 2024 15:19:25
  1. Tata Steel share price
  2. 155.75 1.90%
  1. ICICI Bank share price
  2. 1,091.10 0.65%
  1. HDFC Bank share price
  2. 1,446.15 0.38%
  1. ITC share price
  2. 429.05 0.25%
  1. Power Grid Corporation Of India share price
  2. 275.85 1.77%
Business News/ Science / Health/  Should 2020 Christmas cards be covid-free?
BackBack

Should 2020 Christmas cards be covid-free?

wsj

In a very different holiday season, people are debating whether to address the pandemic or ignore it; ‘What a Year.’

A woman wearing a face mask attends a Christmas fair in La Paz, Bolivia (REUTERS)Premium
A woman wearing a face mask attends a Christmas fair in La Paz, Bolivia (REUTERS)

Every year, Elizabeth Gaule sends out a Christmas card featuring up to 10 photos—a highlight reel of trips she has taken and favorite moments—along with a letter to her loved ones highlighting the events of the past 12 months.

Around the July 4 weekend, it hit her: Nothing had really happened since January, because of the pandemic. Right then she started drafting a card to sum up her 2020, through the online marketplace Minted. The greeting on the front included the message: “Really glad that’s over."

“I had thought that it would be safer than it ended up being," says Ms. Gaule, 26, who works as a media strategist.

Holiday cards tend to involve choosing a family photo—ideally one taken with some fallen leaves nearby or in front of the fireplace with some festive sweaters. You might include a note mentioning significant life changes, such as a baby, a wedding or a new address.

Things look a little different this year, of course, and people are struggling with how exactly to approach this once-benign tradition: Do we embrace the coronavirus theme, masks and all? Perhaps it’s better to pretend nothing has happened and proceed with those beach photos from last summer—but with a brief mention that everyone drove.

Ms. Gaule ended up creating a new card around Thanksgiving with a simpler message. It says: “Merry Christmas."

The photos include Ms. Gaule with her parents, who she went to visit for four days, then ended up living with for seven months. There are pictures of Ms. Gaule and her new boyfriend, who she matched with on a dating app in April but didn’t meet in person for the first time until this fall.

When Dillon Rhodes, 34, went to write up his Christmas card and detail the big events of the year—his son was born March 11—he says the theme song to the 1990s TV series “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" popped into his head. He ran with it. “The melody kind of fits the story about problems rising up," says Mr. Rhodes, who works as an architectural designer and lives in Deptford, N.J.

An excerpt: “I’d like to take a minute, just sit right there/I’ll tell you how Hudson was born the day the pandemic was declared."

His wife, Shannon Rhodes, 33, a design coordinator at a clothing company, was concerned not everyone would understand the reference and might take the lyrics too literally. “We do send to a lot of older family," she says.

Ultimately, the couple compromised: They included a truncated version of Mr. Rhodes’s rap along with a picture of their two sons. “Originally there were a lot more lines," he says.

Lisa Kerwin thinks of Christmas cards as the old-fashioned way of rubbing your success in other people’s faces. She often sees trips to Europe, new houses and accomplishments from throughout the year. She thought in 2020, people might strike a different tone.

“I was kind of assuming that maybe cards would be on the lighter side this year," she says.

One of the first cards she has received seemed to celebrate a coronavirus-free year enjoyed by some friends—including extensive travel and a wedding.

“It was just interesting because there is no mention of a global pandemic, no cheeky sayings," says Ms. Kerwin, 36, who lives in Los Angeles and was laid off in October from her administrative job.

Ms. Kerwin and her husband won’t be including a photo in their own card this year. “There’s no pictures of us doing anything," she said. The message on the front will say: “Ho Ho Holy S— What a Year."

Minted says some of the trends its staff has noticed this year include more casual photos of people at home, and even Zoom photo collages.

As for pandemic-themed cards, Minted felt it was “important to address Covid-19 head on and to connect with the customer authentically during what has been a difficult and unprecedented year," according to a statement from founder and CEO Mariam Naficy. A spokeswoman says the company has seen a lot of orders for cards that depict disinfectant wipes, hand sanitizer and wine.

Amanda Rawson Hill, 33, a children’s book author, has been sending out Christmas cards for about 12 years. She usually includes pictures from trips she has taken with her family where everyone looks good, then the back of the card will feature an outtake that she says is closer to reality.

This year, the card she designed says, “Hill Family 2020 Adventures." It shows photos of her husband and four children in front of the Eiffel Tower wearing berets, at Walt Disney World with Mickey Mouse ears, on a beach in Hawaii—and on the moon. It was digital trickery.

“I’m just really bad at Photoshop," she said. “I decided to lean into it."

The back of the card had an undoctored photo of family members doing what they actually did most in 2020: sitting on their couch at their home in Atwater, Calif.

Jason Muhr, 37, a freelance Illustrator in Elburn, Ill., picks a different Christmas movie each year and draws himself, his wife and their cat as the characters. He puts the drawing on a card and sends it out to around 75 families. In previous years he has drawn them in scenes from “The Polar Express," “How the Grinch Stole Christmas," and “Love Actually." This year, he was flummoxed.

“I was debating doing something humorous about the pandemic, maybe Santa coming down the chimney in a hazmat suit and handing us gifts with one of those old-people-grabber sticks," he said. “It seems vaguely disingenuous to not reference it but then on the other hand, I thought maybe people don’t want to think about that at Christmastime."

Mr. Muhr decided to poll his friends via text and social media to see what they would prefer. The vast majority said they just wanted a regular card with no mention of the pandemic, so he has decided to go with something less controversial: His family will star in a scene from “Die Hard."

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!

Next Story footLogo
Recommended For You
Switch to the Mint app for fast and personalized news - Get App