Editing Christmas card (section)

{{Short description|Major type of greeting cards}}
{{About||other uses |Christmas card (disambiguation) |similar custom in less religious countries |New Year Card}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
[[File:Glædelig Jul, ca 1906.jpg|thumb|250px|Norwegian Christmas card]]
[[File:American Christmas card 1850.jpg|thumb|250px|A 19th-century American Christmas card]]
A '''Christmas card''' is a [[greeting card]] sent as part of the traditional celebration of [[Christmas]] in order to convey between people a range of sentiments related to [[Christmastide]] and the [[Christmas and holiday season|holiday season]]. Christmas cards are usually exchanged during the weeks preceding [[Christmas Day]] by many people (including some non-Christians) in Western society and in Asia. The traditional greeting reads "wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year". There are innumerable variations on this greeting, many cards expressing more religious sentiment, or containing a poem, prayer, Christmas song lyrics or [[Bible verse|Biblical verse]]; others focus on the general holiday season with an all-inclusive "Season's greetings". The first modern Christmas card was by [[John Calcott Horsley]].

A Christmas card is generally commercially designed and purchased for the occasion. The content of the design might relate directly to the [[Nativity of Jesus|Christmas narrative]] with [[Nativity of Jesus in art|depictions of the Nativity of Jesus]], or have [[Christian symbols]] such as the [[Star of Bethlehem]] or a white [[dove]] representing both the [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]] and [[Peace]]. Many Christmas cards show [[Christmas tradition]]s, such as seasonal figures (e.g., [[Santa Claus]], [[snowman|snowmen]], and [[Santa Claus's reindeer|reindeer]]), objects associated with Christmas such as candles, [[holly]], baubles, and [[Christmas tree]]s, and Christmastime activities such as [[Christmas shopping#Shopping|shopping]], [[caroling]], and partying, or other aspects of the season such as the snow and wildlife of the northern winter. Some secular cards depict nostalgic scenes of the past such as [[crinoline]]d shoppers in 19th-century streetscapes; others are humorous, particularly in depicting the antics of Santa and his [[Christmas elf|elves]].