Old Christmas Cards - I Don't Remember

[easysurfer]

Had a strange feeling a short time ago.

I'm one of those folks who've kept old Christmas cards.

Well, in my effort to clean house decided to go through old cards (from decades past) and decided to toss or keep.

I came across one, which I very very very vaguely remember the name of the sender. Guess I should put on the toss stack. But still, an odd feeling .

 

[sengsational]

Don't throw it out. Keep everything in the stack, and go through it each year. Keep a tally sheet with the stack, and record the number of unrecognized people. When the number of unrecognized gets to 10%, check yourself into the memory care unit.

 

[pacergal]

I, too, used to keep old Christmas and Birthday cards. I had two big boxes.
Finally went through them all one last time, enjoyed the memories, then tossed them.
Part of my clean up. My kids won't want them and might not know many of the people.

 

[ElizabethT]

This is just me, but . . .

I dislike the emotions that arise when resurrecting old memories. Excepting family, particularly my daughters and granddaughters, I experience sadness at the fleetness of time. I just don't enjoy it.

So I've tossed all my old holiday cards, and instead look very much forward to each year's batch coming in the mail. I enjoy, then they likewise get tossed in January.

 

[COcheesehead]

Card are appreciated when received, then recycled after the holiday. I feel good both times.

 

[qwerty3656]

My kids won't want them

Apparently Swedish Death Cleaning is a thing...

https://www.familyhandyman.com/list/10-things-to-know-about-swedish-death-cleaning/

 

[pacergal]

Apparently Swedish Death Cleaning is a thing...

https://www.familyhandyman.com/list/10-things-to-know-about-swedish-death-cleaning/

Yep, DH is 50% Swedish, but I am the one who usually tosses things

 

[disneysteve]

Card are appreciated when received, then recycled after the holiday. I feel good both times.

We don't wait that long. We appreciate the card when we receive it and it IMMEDIATELY goes into the recycling bin.


One exception: If, upon opening the envelope, I can see that the card involves glitter, then it goes immediately into the trash. It doesn't even come out of the envelope. And yes, I make sure there's no gift inside first.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I have been collecting cards for as long as I can remember. So did my Mom and Dad. They kept the letters I sent them when I was in basic training. On their birthdays, I will sit and read through some (including letters they sent me when they were travelling extensively in retirement). It does elicit a multitude of emotions, but it keeps me connected to some precious memories and that makes me appreciate the fantastic life I have had.

They don't take up too much room as they are all put away in a cedar chest that has other family mementos.

 

[easysurfer]

The process of tossing or keeping gives me mixed emotions.

On one hand, I don't believe on living in the past. On the other, some of the old cards (especially of ones dearly departed) are a treasure.

 

[Andre1969]

I have a stash of old Christmas cards, birthday cards, etc. I came across it a few months ago, when I was doing some cleaning. One thing I did, was go through and if they were just a very generic card where the person simply signed their name, and it was someone that was a relatively minor footnote in my life, I tossed it.

But, I do agree, about how it can bring up some memories. For instance, a birthday card from a past relation, that said how much they loved me, and was so thankful I came into their life. Now gone, ceased all contact, and just a faint memory, gone with the wind. But, I kept it.

Another thing that seems from a different era, is the cards from the workplace. Once upon a time, it seemed like everybody remembered everybody's birthday, so I used to get those birthday cards that everyone passed around at the office. In the early days, when we used to seem more like friends and family than co-workers, they actually wrote heartfelt messages in the card. But, as years went by, it was less heartfelt messages, and just signatures, and then even fewer of those.

I remember showing one of those cards, from my birthday around 1999 or 2000, to one of my younger friends, who's around 26 or so. It just blew his mind, that co-workers used to actually be like that! And who knows, maybe in some places, they still are. I just haven't seen it in, oh, about a decade or more.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

Maybe it's from a former FA or insurance agent.

 

[Boose]

DisneySteve, I feel more negative about glitter every year. And I am a former children's librarian! I enjoyed using this material with kids at the library, since it's unpopular to use at home, but I'm increasingly concerned about plastics in the environment and in our bodies. Glitter scatters everywhere, it can be ingested by pets and toddlers, and it ends up in the waste stream almost immediately, where it can be blown around or wash into waterways. Boomers and later generations are taking part in a big unwitting experiment with our continuous exposure to plastics.

 

[Koolau]

My DW got the "j*b" of going through my mom's stuff when she went into the NH. There must have been 40 years of letters and Christmas Cards, etc. Wife described reading a letter or card, crying and then moving on to the next. DW spent the entire summer like that. Do your kids a favor and get rid of most of your stuff - that's what we keep trying to do, a bit at a time. YMMV

 

[StillFiguringItOut]

My DW got the "j*b" of going through my mom's stuff when she went into the NH. There must have been 40 years of letters and Christmas Cards, etc. Wife described reading a letter or card, crying and then moving on to the next. DW spent the entire summer like that. Do your kids a favor and get rid of most of your stuff - that's what we keep trying to do, a bit at a time. YMMV

I'm doing this now, except I get to go through cards, postcards and letters that are up to a century old AND in two languages, some in itty bitty 19th century handwriting. This will be my job for the next year, at least.

 

[aja8888]

Don't throw it out. Keep everything in the stack, and go through it each year. Keep a tally sheet with the stack, and record the number of unrecognized people. When the number of unrecognized gets to 10%, check yourself into the memory care unit.

I suppose if you don't recognize the names of people you SEND cards to, you are definitely ready for the "M Unit" too.

 

[mountainsoft]

I don't like useless papers cluttering up the house, so I've always scanned birthday and anniversary cards to my computer. It really helps to keep the clutter down.

However, I was just thinking yesterday that I never look back at the scanned cards, so I should probably just delete them. Especially, if the person just signed their name and didn't really say anything memorable.

My wife saves most of her cards though. We've got two big boxes on a shelf in our bedroom full of them. She never looks at them, but somehow they are valuable to her. To each their own.

 

[easysurfer]

I don't like useless papers cluttering up the house, so I've always scanned birthday and anniversary cards to my computer. It really helps to keep the clutter down.

However, I was just thinking yesterday that I never look back at the scanned cards, so I should probably just delete them. Especially, if the person just signed their name and didn't really say anything memorable.

My wife saves most of her cards though. We've got two big boxes on a shelf in our bedroom full of them. She never looks at them, but somehow they are valuable to her. To each their own.

I thought about scanning old cards too. But factoring the effort involved for something I probably won't look at often, decided not worth the effort. Plus, there is something about the physical ink on paper.

 

[Sunset]

DW has a small box of them, handy for when we need to know how to spell somebody's name.
It's also a memory minefield when looking at relatives that have passed away in the last few years. It's a sudden unexpected remembrance.

I don't really appreciate an old fashioned Christmas card with just a signature, but if they have a note or it's the new photo card it will be saved for a number of years.

I have suggested to DW we scan in the old photo Christmas cards to save them. She wasn't keen.

Good news is, it's pretty easy to clean that up, when we are dead, just a quick look in the box and my kids can toss them all in the garbage.

 

[easysurfer]

I finished my task of organizing the old cards and letters. Wasn't too painful .

Ended up tossing about 2/3 of the items and keeping 1/3 of the ones that had more meaning.

Was interesting to see all the passages (births, deaths, divorces, just drifting apart) people went through in the mental walk down memory lane.