A couple are keeping the spirit of Christmas past going – by sending each other the same cards for 31 years.
Stephen and Glynis Woolner had only been married six years when they first bought the festive cards in 1978.
The following year, CCTV engineer Stephen, now 58, spotted the card he’d send Glynis – showing a man in fetching purple flares decorating a tree – among their old Christmas decorations and gave it to her.
Glynis, also 58, took her revenge on her Scrooge-like husband by sending him her old card – a cat in a pink scarf with the message “Christmas Greetings Sweetheart”.
Luckily, both cards – which were bought way back when James Callaghan was Prime Minister – are A4 size with enough room for the romantic messages penned inside.
One heartfelt sentiment from Stephen to Glynis reads: “All my love now and always. Thank you for your love all these years.”
Stephen and Glynis, from Sheffield, now have a daughter and two grandsons, Stanley, two, and baby Lenny, five weeks.
Glynis, who is registered disabled, says exchanging the cards has become a family Christmas tradition they won’t let go.
She added: “If Stephen tried to give me a new one, I’d flatly refuse it. We exchange the cards when we get the decorations out on the Monday before Christmas. We’re going to carry on this tradition and will stick in extra pages when we run out of space.”
Stephen added: “Some people assume we’re skinflints but these cards mean a lot to us. They are pretty full now.
“It’s great to have memories written down. I hope we can pass it down to our daughter and grandsons.”
The first commercial Christmas cards were made in London in 1843. On average each person in Britain sends around 50 festive cards every year.
