There are so many things that people can collect that are of a political nature. The most popular are buttons, posters and signatures. Though I collect everything (sigh), my greatest passion is for the political Christmas card. I have accumulated close to 1000 (I haven’t actually counted, so, this number is rough) Canadian and American political cards. This week I’m going to write about the generic collecting of Christmas cards. Next week, I’ll tell you some of my favourite things about collecting them. Two weeks from now, I’ll discuss organizing your collection.
Every politician sends out Christmas (holiday?) cards. Some, to more people than others. Regardless of the office, be it municipal, provincial, state, or federal, it’s an easy way to remain in contact with supporters (many times at tax-payers expense) and keep them engaged until the next election.
Many of the political leaders use a generic photo of their respective legislature or “house of government”. These photos, while nice, tend to blend together when so many choose to use the same photo, even when they’re given a choice. The choices, while there, tend to be limited. As an example I’ll use Canadian Members of Parliament. They are given a selection of Parliament Hill photos to choose from for them to use on their cards. Recently, the selection is from a Canadian photographer Malak Karsh (brother of Yousef Karsh). I will confess that I’m a huge fan of Malak. However, seeing his pictures on so many Christmas cards, year after year, begins to get boring. I still collect them, since the inside is different for every MP.
Until the 1960s, US cabinet secretaries sent out single cards that essentially said, “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Secretary… and Mr(s)”. Not even a picture. How boring is that? Fortunately, some of them would at least change the font or print colour every year. If they didn’t, you wouldn’t even know that you have cards from different years. In some cases, the only reason I knew that some US politician’s cards were from different years is that I received them in their original envelopes and could see the different years on the post mark. Talk about boring.
Sometimes, you can get lucky and pick up entire collections. I’ve been fortunate. I’ve purchased collections from two congressmen, and I received another collection from an MP who was cleaning out his office and was just going to throw his cards away. The downside to collections is that, when going through them, you notice the generic photos being used. Imagine seeing 20 cards with the same picture on the front, all from different politicians. However, the plus side is having cards with envelopes addressed to the politician.
The political Christmas card has been around for a very long time. In my own collection, I have one from as far back as 1912, a Lady Grey card (wife of Earl Grey) 1912 Lady Grey & Lady Sybil Grey Christmas Card. On the US side, I have a Theodore Roosevelt and a hand signed Woodrow Wilson.
Regardless, the one constant is that there are always politicians and there will always be ones seeking re-election (or, working for someone that will be seeking (re) election). This means that there will always be Christmas cards sent out. Unlike election campaigns, they come out every year. Also unlike election campaigns, politicians usually only have one per year vs. multiple buttons, posters etc.
Stay tuned…next week I discuss why I love political Christmas cards, and, in two weeks, I discuss how I organize my collection.
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What do you think of political Christmas cards as a collectible?