The Christmas Card Color of the Year

       Everyone has a favorite tradition associated with Christmas.  Do you need to come home for Christmas?  Do you have a special food that must be on the table?  Is it the tree? The decorations?  Evening church?  The carols?  With me, my favorite part of Christmas is the holiday cards.  I spend more care picking them out than I do with most gifts.  I send them out with joy and receive them with eager anticipation.  I would rather get a card than a gift.  The cards are torn open, scanned for happy family news and put on display where they can be seen hourly. 

In the year of our Lord, 2008, I found myself making a curious observation.  No, it was more than curious; it was astounding.  There they were, from one end of the entertainment center to the other, cards that celebrated the color pink!  2008 was the year of pink cards, bright themes that repeated pink, cartoon animals in pink.  I even had Nativity scenes that were on a pink background.  Light-hearted, happy, comforting pink. 

I went to the container of the previous year’s cards and glanced through those cards.  No, no pink, but a predominance of greens.  It was in the Christmas of 2008 that I discovered something interesting about Christmas cards.  They inadvertently take the pulse of the nation. 

Sure, there are lots of family pictures, cute animals, trees, scenes of snow or an array of stars, well-loved Christmas figures like the Magi and Nativity scenes, but there is always a predominant color.  The family photo has people dressed in one predominant color.  The Nativity scene has a colorful border.  Santa and the snowmen are on a background of a specific color.  That color is what I have come to look for as a reflection of the mood of the country.  These cards represent a very personal choice.  What would make diverse people across the country consistently choose one color over another?

Part of the reason is that color has strong psychological ties to our subconscious mind.  Marketers know the importance of color.  Customers make an initial judgement on a product in just 90 seconds and up to 90% of that judgement is based on color. 

The Christmas of 2020, the year of COVID, the year of sheltering in place, the year of economic destruction, was a year when Christmas cards were neutral tones: brown, off-white, even bright colors were grayed down to shades instead of tints.  Everything was muted.  It was as if we were not only avoiding celebration, but we were afraid to tempt fate by even hinting at joy.  Last year was a time of cautious, contemplative, quiet remembrance of the season. 

What was the Christmas of 2023 like?  Blue cards from top to bottom!  Two-thirds of all my cards are blue.  Every family photo has all the participants dressed in blue.  No greens, one red, a couple yellows and one glorious pink.  But the vast majority were blue. 

            The country seems to be in a blue mood.  What does that mean?  Is it Elvis Presley singing a poignant, “I’ll have a blue Christmas without you…”?  Not necessarily.  Blue is a calming color.  It slows the heartbeat and metabolism.  Blue is soothing.  It is a non-confrontational color and has no negative psychological effects.  

            The color blue can increase productivity by making people calm, confident and secure in their workplace.  It inspires confidence even when used by those in authority.  A blue suit is always a good idea for a public speaker.  [A fact that works against someone like me, for whom blue is not my best color.  I do best in brown, which is generally associated with people who are honest, dependable and dull.  Well, we work with what we have.]

            Using the traditional view of the mythological Janus, the two-faced god for whom January was named, I am looking both to the past and future with my Christmas card barometer. Looking back, I would say that people this year were reaching out for some hint of peace and serenity.  In the face of much discord, we hope for calmer seas.   What about all that pink in 2008? Aside from being associated with lighthearted fun and femininity, pink also causes people to think of compassion and sincerity.  Like blue, it seems to have no negative traits.  

I am hoping for pink Christmas cards next year.  But hopes work best when accompanied by actions.  So, I am going to not just think pink, but act pink.  That is my New Year’s resolution, to work for pink.  So I concentrate on sincere compassion, and I keep the faith.