 Christmas card. The Christmas card is a greeting card sent as part of the traditional celebration of Christmas in order to convey between people a range of sentiments related to the Christmas and holiday season. Christmas cards are usually exchanged during the week's preceding Christmas Day by many people including non-Christians in Western society and in Asia. The traditional greeting reads Wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. There are innumerable variations on this greeting, many cards expressing more religious sentiment, or containing a poem, prayer, Christmas song lyrics or Biblical verse. Others stay away from religion with an all-inclusive season's greetings. The Christmas card is generally commercially designed and purchased for the occasion. The content of the design might relate directly to the Christmas narrative with depictions of the Nativity of Jesus, or have Christian symbols such as the start of Bethlehem or a wide dove representing both the Holy Spirit and Peace. Many Christmas cards show Christmas traditions, such as seasonal figures e.g. set of claws, snowmen and reindeer objects associated with Christmas such as candles, holly, baubles and Christmas trees, and Christmas time activities such as shopping, caroling and partying, or other aspects of the season such as the snow and wildlife of the Northern winter. Some secular cards depict nostalgic scenes of the past such as crinoline shoppers in 19th century streetscapes, others are humorous, particularly in depicting the antics of Santa and his elves.