# Strange Christmas card **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 7, 2018, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-christmas-card/806049 "2018-01-07T16:38:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Clothes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Clothes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothes)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-christmas-card/806049/1 "2018-01-07T16:38:48Z")
This could be a General Question of the “what is it?” variety, but I’m posting it at Mundane Pointless because I’m not sure there’s a definitive answer, and I’m not sure I care if there is. A friend sent me this image of a [Christmas card](https://s10.postimg.org/4are86hop/card.jpg). She said a co-worker named Larry bought it from Amazon, as part of a package of 24 assorted cards printed in China. It is unusual, not only for being singularly ugly, but for including some design elements that are puzzling. A watermelon slice? Okay, must be an ornament. A big staring eyeball? Yeah, sure. But what’s that object serving as a tree trunk? Seven out of ten people asked say it’s a butt plug. But it doesn’t look like any butt plug I’ve ever seen. My own best guess is it’s one of those lead wall anchors that you hammer into a plaster wall, which expands and grips the wall when you put a screw in it - useful for hanging pictures or something not too heavy. Which is a boring answer, and if you want to insist it’s a butt plug, or something else, go ahead. Like I said, it doesn’t matter much to me. I don’t know what the designer of this card had in mind anyway, but I hope the other 23 cards in the box were better than this one. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/22080_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-christmas-card/806049/2 "2018-01-07T17:13:10Z")
Then there’s what looks like a Star of David near the top. And what are those things above the eyeball? Flames? And if that’s a butt plug, I don’t want to know where those people shop. _\_ That’s one weird card, but I must say, I’d rather get that than some of the soppy ones I did receive. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-christmas-card/806049/3 "2018-01-07T18:13:13Z")
It looks like a kid who doesn’t really know anything about christmas other than you decorate a tree had a go with some clip art. I do like the random eye though. ---
**Author:** ![Buttercup\_Smith](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buttercup_smith/32/473_2.png) [@Buttercup\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buttercup_Smith)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-christmas-card/806049/4 "2018-01-07T18:27:50Z")
That is the ugliest Christmas card I have ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-christmas-card/806049/5 "2018-01-07T18:55:09Z")
Inside the card “Plugging my way through the Holidays” ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-christmas-card/806049/6 "2018-01-07T18:57:56Z")
That “butt plug” is indeed what the OP thought it was. The ones I’ve seen have been rubber or plastic. I actually think the card’s kind of cool. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-christmas-card/806049/7 "2018-01-07T20:44:25Z")
Bizarre Christmas cards are nothing new. They’re as old as Christmas cards themselves. [Frog murder and boiled children: 'Merry Christmas' Victorian style - BBC News](http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-34988154) ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-christmas-card/806049/8 "2018-01-07T21:37:43Z")
The eyeball means it’s propaganda for the New World Order. The Star of David references _The Protocols of the Elders of Zion_, of course. The … “plug” references the probes aliens are so keen on. Wake up sheeple! ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-christmas-card/806049/9 "2018-01-07T22:19:51Z")
well, I would have said that thing looks more like an automotive fastener than a lag or wall anchor, but agree that it _is_ a fastener/anchor of some sort. Yes that is a weird and ugly Christmas card. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-christmas-card/806049/10 "2018-01-07T22:33:33Z")
I think the dark coloured object at the bottom is a stylised pagoda - maybe supposed to be a stone lantern ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-christmas-card/806049/11 "2018-01-07T22:39:24Z")
> [@Clothes](#): > > This could be a General Question of the “what is it?” variety, but I’m posting it at Mundane Pointless because I’m not sure there’s a definitive answer, and I’m not sure I care if there is. > > A friend sent me this image of a [Christmas card](https://s10.postimg.org/4are86hop/card.jpg). She said a co-worker named Larry bought it from Amazon, as part of a package of 24 assorted cards printed in China. It is unusual, not only for being singularly ugly, but for including some design elements that are puzzling. > > A watermelon slice? Okay, must be an ornament. A big staring eyeball? Yeah, sure. But what’s that object serving as a tree trunk? > > Seven out of ten people asked say it’s a butt plug. But it doesn’t look like any butt plug I’ve ever seen. My own best guess is it’s one of those lead wall anchors that you hammer into a plaster wall, which expands and grips the wall when you put a screw in it - useful for hanging pictures or something not too heavy. Which is a boring answer, and if you want to insist it’s a butt plug, or something else, go ahead. Like I said, it doesn’t matter much to me. > > I don’t know what the designer of this card had in mind anyway, but I hope the other 23 cards in the box were better than this one. The butt plug should be on the top branch so you can put an angel on it. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-christmas-card/806049/12 "2018-01-07T22:40:53Z")
It looks like a stylised bullet or rocket to me. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-christmas-card/806049/13 "2018-01-07T23:07:13Z")
We have a marble chess set & the ‘butt plug’ looks very similar to the pawns. Now I’m going to be thinking of this every time I play chess :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-christmas-card/806049/14 "2018-01-08T00:50:35Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I think the dark coloured object at the bottom is a stylised pagoda - maybe supposed to be a stone lantern People! People! It is clearly a [Scharfenberg coupler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scharfenberg_coupler), as used on subway trains worldwide! This card carries an encrypted message sent by the Transit Fan Underground to satellite systems everywhere (the “snowflake”), warning of surveillance (the eyeball), so that the freedom fighters of the Transit Underground can keep the forces of Big Railway at bay! ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-christmas-card/806049/15 "2018-01-08T11:04:34Z")
I had to buy a special tool to deal with the fasteners holding my gf’s car’s door panel in place. I didn’t realize the fasteners were teensy butt plugs. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-christmas-card/806049/16 "2018-01-08T12:24:18Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > Bizarre Christmas cards are nothing new. They’re as old as Christmas cards themselves. [Frog murder and boiled children: 'Merry Christmas' Victorian style - BBC News](http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-34988154) Geez, those Victorians were seriously fucked up. > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > It looks like a stylised bullet or rocket to me. Weird. Yeah, I thought it was a rocket of some kind. I suppose if I were designing a greeting card for a totally unfamiliar Chinese holiday I \*might \*choose inappropriate clip art. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-christmas-card/806049/17 "2018-01-08T15:11:18Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > That “butt plug” is indeed what the OP thought it was. The ones I’ve seen have been rubber or plastic. > > I actually think the card’s kind of cool. I doubt that’s a butt plug. It’s got a sharp point and sharp angles on the ridges. Maybe you could find one like that in a specialist masochist store, but main stream plugs are all softly rounded to avoid ‘very unpleasant injuries’. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-christmas-card/806049/18 "2018-01-08T15:32:28Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > The butt plug should be on the top branch so you can put an angel on it. That would make a good punk rock song title- _Angel on a Butt Plug_ The horns of Satan (above the eye) concern me. I think it’s a card that would be exchanged by members of a devil-worshipping cult. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-christmas-card/806049/19 "2018-01-08T15:34:03Z")
> [@naita](#): > > I doubt that’s a butt plug. … but main stream plugs are all softly rounded to avoid ‘very unpleasant injuries’. So not one of [these](https://www.amazon.com/Hunters-Specialties-Butt-Game-Dressing/dp/B002ECKYSA)? ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-christmas-card/806049/20 "2018-01-08T15:40:33Z")
I think the butt plug is supposed to be some kind of tree stand. I’ve seen those woven diamonds called “god’s eyes” used as decorations used all the time. If you told someone who knows nothing of Western culture that god’s eyes are tree decorations, that big eye is what you might end up with. I’m glad I have never tried to send someone a Christmas card. I have some Jewish friends who have sent them to gentile friends, and I think, although I cannot prove, that some of them have been as awful as that one. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-christmas-card/806049.md?page=2)