Executive Summary:
·
Disclaimer: the scientific worth of a statistical
exercise is dependent on the size of the sample and the selection categories
used. In that respect, this stuff is
scientifically worthless.
·
Hardly anyone seems to believe in Santa Claus
any more.
·
Glued-on glitter is making an unwelcomed
comeback. Just stop buying the crap,
people!
·
I welcome the woodpecker! (Yay, Caro!)
The full figures (2018’s, where applicable, in brackets):
Snow/Snowmen/Snowflakes: 6
(6)
Santas/Reindeer: 1
(3)
Animals/Birds: 11
(10)
of which
Robins: 3
(3)
Free-range reindeer: 0
(1)
Horses: 1 (1)
Camels: 1 (1)
Sheep: 1 (0)
Owls: 1 (0)
Penguins: 1 (0)
Dogs: 2 (0)
Deer: 1 (1)
Turtle doves: 0 (1)
Seals: 1 (0)
Woodpeckers: 1 (0)
Landscapes: 0
(2)
Nativities/Wise Men/Angels: 8 (5)
Christmas trees/Baubles: 5
(4)
Abstract: 0 (1)
Mail-letterboxes: 2
(1)
Booze: 1
(0)
Flowers: 1
(0)
Forests/woods: 0
(1)
Cute children: 1
(1)
Houses: 1
(3)
Holly/ivy/mistletoe: 1
(0)
Skaters: 0
(4)
Townscapes: 3
(4)
12 days of Xmas: 1
(1)
Everything secular: 0
(1)
Special categories:
Homemade/designed: 4 (3)
Cards with glued-on glitter: 7 (5)
Wonderfully weird: 4
(0)
Posh yet restrained: 3
(5)
Various animals wearing sunglasses 1 (0)
Tie for Card
Of The Year has to be Chris’s cover from the Girls’ Crystal Annual 1967, and
Mig’s animals with sunglasses. Viewings
by appointment only.
Skaters appear to have fallen out of favour. I take it that it's because of last year's mild winter. The snow of 2018 had a knock-on effect for the following Christmas. Maybe. I appreciated the burst of wonderfully weird in their place.
ReplyDeleteI have not undertaken analysis of our own to the level of your detail, the publication of which has been such a highlight of post-nativital expectations for so many years, an uplifting event during the SAD period. However it was noticeable in our received selection of cards, possibly around 60 (I didn't count) that the total number of cards with any semblance of connotations of religion, nativity, baby Jesus or similar stuff was .... (drum roll) ....three. I consider this encouraging, in relation to solar and ecologically based worship anyway, if not retail based worship. But similarly glitter and foil which make them unrecyclable (in our council district at least) seems not to be falling by the wayside, but onto our floor, furniture, fixtures and fittings. It's an effing nuisance.
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