The Nation: Surge in the War on Christmas

[marmar]

Surge in the War on Christmas
posted by Leslie Savan on 12/24/2009 @ 1:35pm


Sure, it's easy to laugh at the idea that Bill O'Reilly's troops will win the War on Christmas when "Merry Christmas" replaces "Happy holidays" on the lips of every salesperson and fast-food server in America. But one front in this longest-running U.S. war (longer, now, than Afghanistan) has already seen a major breakthrough, and that's among Christmas cards: These days, it's almost impossible to find any ironic cards on the subject, no matter where you look.

You may remember that kind of card. Since at least the mid-'80s, my husband, who is a total chortling Khristmas kringle, used to come home this time of year snickering over the discovery of a completely inappropriate holiday greeting, one that mocked the sentimental Sundblom Santas of his youth. One year it was a card showing the neon sign at a Howard Johnson's with nine letters shot out so it spelled "Ho Ho." Then it was a card printed with Vincent Van Gogh's famous grey self-portrait but wearing a Santa hat; when you opened it up you found a plastic baggie holding a small plaster ear, with the message, "Merry Christmas and Happy New Ear."

His favorite was called "Drive-By Santa," and showed a sleigh from behind rushing down an urban street lined with broken windows, with Santa hurling gaily wrapped packages through every one as he raced away.

He first noticed that these sort of cards went MIA after 9/11. Suddenly, he says, in otherwise arty-smarty card shops across Manhattan, there was nothing but the usual treacly images--snowy scenes in the mountains, Norman Rockwell views of New England towns, or Old Masterish paintings of the Holy Family or the Three Kings. "All the cartoon cards seemed to take their cues from the stop-action figures in Burl Ives' Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," he moans. "Now, the best you can do, are Museum of Modern Art-type cards printed in bold, bright colors with abstract images of stars or snowmen." .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/509156/surge_in_the_war_on_christmas

[Auggie]

1. I've noticed it too -- I think it's technology

I'm seeing more home-made card/family portrait cards, newsletters and e-greetings than ever. The market for the wonderfully creative ones mentioned in the article may have shrunk so much that it's no longer feasible to produce them.