It's that time of year! My never ending search for a Christmas card with someone smoking a pipe. I've been sending out Christmas cards with someone smoking a pipe on them for over 30 yrs now and each year it gets harder and harder to find one. Some times it takes me two years looking & a few times I've recycled leftovers from years past. Sometimes it's Santa, once it was a person, but most of the time it's a snowman. If I want to pay a premium price I can usually find one I haven't used yet through the different old world Christmas websites or western sites. What once was just a fun challenge has now turned into a complete "scavenger hunt". For the last 15 yrs I have been on an additional mission to find anything Christmas that involves this wonderful tradition. Now even my friends, family & husband have gotten involved in this "scavenger hunt". German companies still sell ornaments & decorations w/ a pipe. Specialty Christmas stores will typically have a few.... but the rest of the stores... rarely! Even Frosty the Snowman is getting harder to find with his signature accessory. It will be a sad day when I can no longer find a trace of St. Nick or Frosty being portrayed in their natural likeness.
