Hipius Family Holiday Greeting Cards

This page refers to the family of Donna and Joe Hipius, including their sons, Greg and AJ, while they were still living at home.

The goofy greeting cards: How it all started

We started out sending family photo Christmas cards when our older son, Greg, was about 1 or 2 (1977 or 1978, we aren't sure which). They were nice enough, but very conventional. In 1988, Donna had a great idea. Instead of sending a rather ordinary, bland photo card, why not do a funny pose that would get everyone's attention? We signed it "GUESS WHO!" just for fun, although everyone who got the card would easily know who it was from. The reaction was amazing; lots of people called or wrote to us to tell us how much they liked the card. We figured, mission accomplished, we've livened up everyone's holidays. There was no expectation that we'd do something that silly again.

In 1989 We did a conventionally posed family photo card on the deck in back of our house. We thought it was a good photo, but were surprised by the reaction. Several people commented that, well, that's nice, but last year's card was so much better. We began to think about doing another funny one sometime. In 1990 we decided to use the zoo as a backdrop for our card photo, and the elephants cooperated in providing the opportunity for a card with a funny caption. Again, the card got compliments.

We still hadn't thought that silly Christmas cards were anything but an occasional novelty, however. So in 1991 we reverted to another conventional family photo, which got no reaction. in 1992, I was beginning to experiment with using our home computer (fairly new technology at the time) and had intended to try to design and print our own cards, but a last minute hardware failure resulted in a very poor quality card, and I decided that the speed, memory and overall technical capability of our home computer equipment had not advanced to the stage where doing it this way would be practical, at least not yet, and not within our budget.

When 1993 came around, we were in the mood to do something crazy again, and we got lots of positive feedback. It was about then that we started to think that we were onto something special. When we ran into friends and relatives that we infrequently saw in person, sometimes even in the summer months, they'd say, "We loved your Christmas card. What are you going to do this year?" So we decided that we would continue to make funny cards, and since 1993 every card we've sent has been nutty, funny, weird, or whacky, and sometimes all of them, plus 100% unique.

In 1997, our home computer equipment and software had improved to the point where we started designing and printing the cards ourselves, and we've done it that way every year since then.

After doing them for more than three decades, we still get compliments, at any time of the year. One time, not close to the holidays, a visiting relative opened her purse to show us that she had our most recent card with her–not just to show us, but because she carried it around to show her friends. One of our friends sent us a note ranking our latest card in comparison with his other favorites from prior years. We've been told that when the mail comes a little before Christmas, some people quickly go through each day's mail in avid anticipation of our card.

So, this is now a family tradition. By 2005 Greg and AJ had both moved out to lead their own lives, and we wondered whether we should continue now that we had become empty-nesters. While it's never quite been the same as when we all were part of the fun, we have managed to keep the tradition alive by ourselves. The positive comments keep coming, so we know that the effort is worth it. (Plus, it's a lot of creative fun coming up with ideas and making them work.) Sure, we know that greeting cards have become "old school" and that social media are increasingly becoming the vehicles for conveying good wishes among friends and family; we receive fewer cards every year and the custom is in decline. But we'll keep doing it as long as we think the efforts are appreciated.

We're happy that our cards bring a little joy to people, and we can't imagine going back to bland, "normal" cards again.

Go to our Gallery of Funny Cards to travel back in time and see all of our funny cards.

Oh, one other thing. You'll notice that almost none of our cards involve religious themes or text. We also steer clear of political humor. We have friends of various religions, including non-Christians, and of various political alignments. We want to spread cheer and joy to everyone and we think that this is the best way to respect the wonderful diversity of our friends and relatives.

About our topical cards

The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks would seem to be unlikely source material for a funny holiday greeting card. Joe was in New York City that day and personally witnessed the burning and collapse of the World Trade Center towers, and was, like everyone else, deeply affected by the event. (See Joe's 9/11 Experience.) However, when it came time to design our card a couple of months later, we realized that humor can often provide a form of release when people are dealing with stressful situations. So, partly as a form of personal release, and partly to share the opportunity to laugh at the expense of the perpetrators, Joe created a card that included Osama bin Laden.

The reaction was mixed. We got some compliments, although a few people did not seem comfortable about joking about a wound that hadn't had enough time to heal. Either way, it was apparent that the card got attention and that recent events could provide fertile ground for future cards. The concept of the topical card was born, though it would be several years before we went in that direction again.

We did topical cards again several times, and a few examples include 2008 (government bailouts of the auto industry), 2009 (New York Yankees winning the World Series), 2010 (airport scanners), and 2012 (Mayan calendar). We continue to do topical cards often.

There were two things that we became aware of as we designed topical cards. First we had to be very careful not to get involved in partisan politics, as we definitely wanted to avoid offending anyone who has strong political beliefs. We have friends and relative that span the entire political spectrum, and doing so would be counterproductive to spreading joy and cheer, the main objective of the cards in the first place. So we concentrated on how current events impacted the average person and found humor in that, and tried to avoid seeming too judgmental about the underlying actions that might have created the situation.

Second, we knew that some cards would not seem as funny, or even funny at all, if taken out of the context of their time. Eventually, people forget how they were feeling about something that, at an earlier time, might have been a source of general public concern. An example is the 2010 airport scanner card. Today, most people are used to airport screening and the machines used don't seem to be too much of an issue. Back in 2010, there was a furor over personal privacy and people were feeling violated by the imaging done on the machines. So, as time passes, the topical cards may lose their effectiveness. You have to put yourself back into the mood of the time to fully appreciate the humor.