Dearest Reader,

In a box of saved letters and photographs, I found a Christmas card my grandmother sent to my father in 1943.

The front is not decorated with wreaths or candles. There is no snow, no manger scene, no holly. Instead, it bears an American flag, The Liberty Bell and a white eagle:  symbols of a nation at war. Across the front: “Christmas Greeting to you, Son in the Service“.

It is a Christmas card stripped down to essentials.

The card was produced by Forget-Me-Not Greeting Cards, a line introduced in 1939 and widely distributed across the United States during the war years. Sold in neighborhood pharmacies and five-and-dime-stores, these were the everyday cards of American families: affordable, accessible and designed to speak plainly to the moment. During World War II, publishers shifted their artwork to reflect the national mood. Patriotism replaces ornamentation. Flags and eagles stood where holly and bells once did. Even Christmas acknowledged the war.

Inside, the printed verse reads:

To wish you, SON, the special cheer that Christmas always brings,
To hope the coming New Year, too, will give you all good things,
And if you’re here or miles away, please keep this thought in mind:
You’re always close in every heart of those you left behind.

The words are simple. Measured. Reassuring

In 1943, Christmas in America was marked by ration books and uncertainty. Sugar, gasoline, butter and meat were carefully counted. Families followed troop movements in newspapers. Blue star hung in windows. Sons were far from home.

In 1943, mail was a lifeline. Letters and cards carried home inside them.  

This card survived, it outlived the war and both my grandmother and father.