Tag: political christmas cards

Last week, I discussed collecting political Christmas cards in general. This week, I’m telling you why I love political Christmas cards. Next week, I’ll discuss organizing your collection.

A number of MPs, a number of politicians from every level of government, in both Canada and the US, choose to be original. Their cards have photos of themselves. Their cards have photos of their families. Their cards have photos from their constituencies. Some have caricatures. Some have photos of landmarks within their constituencies. The best ones have multiple pictures.

This is true at so many levels of government. I have cards from municipal politicians with the family photo. I have provincial politicians with family photos. I have state politicians with family photos. I have federal politicians with family photos. One oddity is the Presidential Christmas card. For some reason, the Presidential Christmas card almost never has a picture on it ( 1993 Bill Clinton White House Christmas Card being an exception). I find this odd since, if one looks at their Christmas cards from a previous office, they often do use photos. They become President and, suddenly they select a picture of a painting of Washington or the White House.  I’m hoping someone in the US will be able to explain this to me.  On the plus side, the White House has a web site White House Christmas Cards devoted to them.  Canadian Prime Ministers almost always have photos of themselves, usually with other family members. I have ten Christmas cards from John Diefenbaker and his picture is in all of them.

I find it very interesting to see pictures of politicians in their constituencies, or, “doing their jobs”. “Candid” photos of these politicians within their constituencies gives one a view of the different regions of the country. Family photos of politicians lets you see their kids grow up. My favorite example of the this is Brian Mulroney’s annual card. It’s remarkable watching his kids grow up over his 10 years as leader, including 8 years as Prime Minister. Another great example are the cards from pre-President George H.W. Bush. His cards prior to his presidency included photos of the kids, which includes future President George W. Bush and future Florida Governor Jeb Bush. Seeing these two much younger than today is remarkable. The same can be said of some of Pierre Trudeau’s cards. Seeing the baby Justin, given his position today, is lots of fun (regardless of your political leanings – my non-partisan disclaimer).

Another fun aspect of collecting political Christmas cards is moving them within your collection. For example, Brian Tobin’s cards were in my general Canadian politician collection. However, when he moved back to Newfoundland to become Premier, I moved them to my Premiers collection. The same is true of the John Kerry cards. His cards were in my general US politician collection. When he became Secretary of State, they moved to my US Cabinet Secretaries collection. Sadly (or fortunately, depending upon your perspective-another of my non-partisan disclaimers), my Stephane Dion and Michael Ignatieff cards remain in my general collection, as do my John McCain and Michael Dukakis.

Next week, I talk about organizing your collection (or, more accurately, how I organize my collection).

To see the political Christmas cards that I have available, Click Here.

What are your favourite political Christmas cards and why? You can share photos on the Bill’s Political Shoppe Favourites Photo Album.

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.

Click here to go directly to Political Christmas Cards

What do you think of political Christmas cards as a collectible?