RICHMOND, Mich. -- It may be the most traveled Christmas card in America.
The card, picked up at a school fundraiser more than 60 years ago, has been mailed between two friends ever since, WDIV-TV in Detroit reported.
Art Hebel said he first saw it when his mother bought a pack of cards and he insisted on having one to give out to somebody.
That year, he hand-delivered it to his friend Bill Nichols.
The two were inseparable buddies growing up in Richmond, Mich., in 1948. The very next year, Nichols started the odd tradition.
"I called him a cheapskate because he gave me the same card back," Hebel said. "I put it away and the next year I crossed his name off, wrote my name up, put 'ha ha' and gave it back to him."
The exchange continued as Hebel went from grade school to high school to marriage to parenthood and even retirement in his old house on Main Street in Richmond.
Nichols eventually moved to Fort Wayne, Ind. He gets the card one year, Hebel gets it the next.
"When I receive it, I put it away," Hebel said. "I show it, that's it. I put it away and that's where it stays all year."
The two only write their names and the year inside the card. Messages are inserted on other paper.
Hebel said it's the only time the two communicate.
For safekeeping the card has been copied and is sent by certified mail every year.
"It's worth it because the card is so valuable to us," Hebel said. "Maybe not to everyone else, but between him and I, the card means a lot."
Hebel said now and then they've skipped the exchange, but Hebel said he believes the tradition will continue until one of them dies.
Distributed by Internet Broadcasting. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
