The Christmas Card Color of the Year: 2024

 

Every year since 2008 I have monitored and commented on a most curious observation.     Christmas cards are my favorite part of the season.  In 2008 I first noticed that the cards were of one predominate color.  It was pink!   Pink borders, pink cartoon animals.  Even a Nativity scene in shades of pink.  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.  I started paying attention each year. 

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, but there is always a predominant color.  The family photo has everyone dressed in one 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? Do our cards take the pulse of a nation?

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 or 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. 

2023 was blue cards from top to bottom!  Every family photo had all the participants dressed in blue.  No greens, one red and a couple yellows and one glorious pink, but the vast majority were blue. 

            The country seemed 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.  

            What was the color of 2024’s Christmas cards?  White!  For the first time in my memory, it was white.  By a two to one majority, my cards were white.  And there is the conundrum.  Most people automatically associate white with purity.  Think of all those white wedding gowns.  [But brides did not traditionally wear white until Queen Victoria married her Albert in a white gown.]   

            White can be associated with innocence, cleanliness, the blank slates that symbolize new beginnings and a sense of open space.  But white is also a color on a knife edge.  It can offer a sense of clarity and motivate one to action (we’ve got to fill that empty space) but it can also suddenly feel sterile, cold and intimidating.  It can make a person feel isolated, increasing loneliness and even producing despair.  Too much white can produce sensory deprivation instead of creative energy. Which white was reflected in those Christmas cards?

            White needs to be balanced with soft colors and moderate tones.  It does not do well, psychologically, with bright primary colors.  The cards I saw in abundance this year were all softened with pastels, blues or grays.  What were those people looking for when choosing those colors?  A mental house cleaning?  A fresh slate to go forward?  A chance to organize and order a new year?  The one thing white does not offer is hope (like pink) or calm (like blue).  White needs an internal evaluation and organized call to order.  Perhaps that explains while I chose a white Christmas card this year. 

            I hope that next year I will choose pink. For this, for my family and for my country I keep the faith.