The short answer is yes. I’m sending out my Christmas cards this week, and will include a number to Amish friends across the country.

Amish don’t do Santa, so I try to choose “neutral” ones, though have sent some with a Christmas tree before.

You can see Christmas cards displayed in Amish homes. One family I regularly visit hangs them from a string, which is pretty common. I have seen these cards still up as late as February. I know some English leave the tree standing well past its due-by date. I guess this is the Amish version of that.

I’m not sure how the most conservative Amish approach this custom.  I am sending most of mine to friends in mainstream communities (Lancaster, Ohio, northern Indiana).  Do Swartzentruber or Nebraska Amish exchange cards?

Amish Christmas CardsIn these modern times, Christmas cards, of course, have an e-version (what doesn’t have an e-version these days, come to think of it).  In a recent discussion I had, this was described as “holiday spam”.  If we can do something in a click or two, why mess around with stationery and stamps?

In a similar vein, I once wondered if anyone still writes letters. For most of us, Christmas cards and postcards are among the few times we still regularly put pen to paper.  It seems fitting Amish would be among those to maintain an “old-fashioned” Christmas card tradition.

Christmas card photo: June Campbell/flickr

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