Christmas cards

In the past few days, I've received a couple of emails/IMs to confirm my current mailing address, presumably for The Great Card-mailing Lists. This has made me wonder where the tradition of sending cards originated (yes, I'm sure I could look it up on wikipedia but where's the fun in that if I can just randomly speculate?). It's nice to hear from people from time to time, and to hear updates from those keen enough to write Annual Letters (I am not one of those people), but what I find interesting is that (other than family) the few cards I receive tend to be from non-believers, who obviously feel that Christmas (or the generic "the holidays") is a time for family/friends (and it is nice to be remembered).

The cynic in me wonders if the whole concept of Christmas cards was invented by the consumer industry, along with the ridiculous pressure associated with Christmas gifts and consumerism and spending!money! that are so far removed from the story of God in human form (and a peasant human who taught a lot more about compassion than about the accumulation of wealth and stuff) that it is really rather absurd.