A nautical Noel

Back in the heyday of the maritime shipping trade, shipping companies would issue specially-made Christmas cards to their crews, so that they could share the spirit of the season with their families, even if they were adrift at sea and thousands of miles from a warm hearth.

A number of these Christmas keepsakes have found their way into the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic’s collection, and they like to bring them out this time of year not just as a fun seasonal way to educate visitors about our maritime heritage, but also to serve as a reminder that those seafaring days are, for many, not such a relic of the past during the holiday season.

“It was traditional, even for cable ship companies, to produce an annual Christmas card, so that the crews of the ships could send them to families and friends as sort of a keepsake or a memento of the holidays,” says Richard MacMichael, coordinator of visitor services and interpretive programming at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. “We realized that we had a lot of really nice nautical Christmas cards in the display.”

For the past four years, a modest display has been erected in the museum, displaying merry missives from all walks of nautical life, including famous ocean liners like the Queen Elizabeth, battleships like the HMS Hood, and humble cable ships like the John W. Mackay, which was one of many involved in the recovery efforts following the Titanic disaster. These letters date as recently as the 1970s, and as far back as 1902.

“For the holiday season, it’s a really nice example of an older time, when people took the time to send Christmas cards, no matter where they were,” says MacMichael.

But sharing our maritime heritage is not the sole reason for the exhibit. A big part of the display is to remind visitors that, while the tradition of ship companies making their own special holiday cards is mostly a thing of the past, sailors at sea during the holidays certainly is not.

“Every year, over the holidays, there are thousands and thousands of sailors who aren’t home,” says MacMichael.

“People are out at sea right now,” adds Andrew Aulenback, a member of the visitor services staff at the Maritime Museum.

MacMichael wants that knowledge to hit home to people while they’re thinking about the museum’s modern outreach to sailors at seas during the season.

“What they’ve been doing for many years now has been collecting toiletries, hats, scarves, and mittens, and they pack them in shoeboxes and they give them to the crews of merchant ships, container ships, oil tankers, etc., here in Halifax harbour over the holidays,” says MacMichael. “We do the Christmas card display every year around the same time that we’re taking donations for the Missions to Seafarers Christmas shoebox program.”

Aulenback is always pleasantly surprised by the show of generosity their patrons make not just during the holidays, but throughout the year. But he definitely suspects that the nautical Christmas card display gives folks a little nudge, to remind them that there are still people at sea who could use a little holiday cheer, no matter what they’re celebrating.

“As we hear from sailors out at sea every year, the shoebox campaign makes a huge difference,” says Aulenback. “Whether they’re out there for the navy or they’re out there shipping goods back and forth, or they’re transporting water, or they’re arranging fuel – they’re doing all of that for all of us. So remembering that they are there, and sending them a bit of a thank-you, would certainly not go amiss.”

The display is already working its magic on guests who come across it, if visitor John den Hollander is anything to go by.

“I think, for somebody that’s away from home, that doesn’t get anything, doesn’t know anybody around here, wherever they are, to get something like that really would bring them a touch of home,” says den Hollander, who’s been inspired by the display to get him and his wife looking for things to donate. “I think the material that’s in it would really have a deep meaning.”

The Nautical Christmas Card exhibit is open now, continuing through to February 14, so you have a lot of time to enjoy it. But the shoebox program is only accepting donations until December 20, to give the museum time to wrap the gifts by Christmas.

If you’re in a giving mood this season, drop by with some essentials for the sailors making port in Halifax for the holidays. And by all means, include some plain correspondence material if you’d like to keep the naval tradition of Christmas cards alive.

“Sending cards to the ships has kind of faded away, but of course, the tradition of sending cards home from ships is just as strong,” says MacMichael. “The guys can send notes home, to let them know that they’re thinking of their families.”

Those who donate to the shoebox campaign will be gifted a complementary admission to the museum.