Tuesday Treasures - December 23, 2025 - Xmas Stars

Two things I noticed about my thrifted antique postcards.  Maybe you noticed too and wondered the same things I did.

First, a controversial word. 

Xmas

1910 from Great Britian

Yes, Xmas.  Some claim using it instead of the full Christ in Christmas is "taking the Christ out of Christmas," even finding it offensive.  They see it as the big part of the "War on Christmas" that has been taking place for the past few years (decades?), or so they believe.  In fact, the St. Vincent de Paul volunteer who was with me when I went through the many cards for sale questioned the use, and seemed surprised the antique cards used the shortened word.  (Which goes to show, we may have grown up in the same town and attended the same high school just a few years apart, but somewhere along the line our similar backgrounds diverged.)

1912

So, what's the truth?  What is the history of Xmas, and was is used to remove Christ from the word Christmas?  

The short answer is, no, it was not invented to take Christ out of the equation.  

The long answer is, the abbreviated form was used centuries ago.  It has been around since at least 1021!  In that year a scribe saved space on his expensive parchment paper by writing XPmas.

  X represents the Greek letter chi, the first letter in the word  Χριστός (Chrīstos).  If you haven't guessed, Χριστός means Christ. 

 What did the scribe write?  "...on Xp̄es mæsse uhtan" or "on the morning of Christmas."  

How about some famous authors from more modern times?

Lewis Carroll used Xmas in letters and notes, often in a playful manner.

 C.S. Lewis, author of The Chronicles of Narnia, was a lay theologian, and had no problem using Xmas in his essays and letters, sometimes contrasting Xmas and Christmas to make a deliberate point about commercialization. 

James Joyce's manuscripts show his use of Xmas was part of his everyday writing. 

Writers trained in classical languages, especially 18th - 20th century British, used Xmas freely with no controversy. 

What is the second unusual thing on these antique postcards?  

Do you see it?  A six-pointed star.  Today we assocate it with the Star of David, representing both Jewish ancestry and the Jewish people's ethnic religion, Judaism.  

c.1910-1920

While most modern Christmas card stars are five-pointed (or eight which is linked to the Star of Bethlehem), the hexagram formed by overlapping triangles in a six-poined star represented the union of opposites.  Heaven-Earth,  Male-Female,  Human-Divine.  The Victorian and Edwardian printers were inspired to use this for the spiritual importance.

Six-pointed stars represented protection, harmony, unity, and eternity in many cultures. 

While early card designers blended Christian imagry with other symbols, there is also the fact the hexagram at the time was fashionable!  Decorative arts were full of the six-pointed star, which suggested mysticism and sacred geometry.  

postmark 1910

Maybe it all really came down to practicality and all that "union of opposites," and "divine harmony" had nothing to do with it.  The six-pointed star was easy to reproduce with woodcuts and lithographs, and fit neatly into borders, due to its symmetry.

c.1900-1910