A fun-loving couple who have earned viral fame over the last 17 years with their quirky, and often controversial, alternative holiday cards finished out the decade in style with a hilarious offering inspired by ‘a Jewish bookie’ and his imagined family.
Mike and Laura Bergeron, from California, have left the internet in stitches every year with their very inventive festive greetings, which they began as an unmarried couple, and have since expanded to include their two daughters, Gigi and Juju.
Previous themes have included ‘The West Texans’, ‘Christmas in Paradise’ and a cross-dressing family – however this year, they settled on ‘A Bookie’s Family Holiday’, an idea inspired by dad Mike’s ‘deep-seated desire to rock a gold Star of David resting upon a chest full of hair’.
Merry Bookie-mas! California couple Mike and Laura Bergeron release a funky holiday card every year, and this week unveiled 2019’s offering, titled ‘A Bookie’s Family Christmas’
Something for everyone: While previous years have seen the family of four dress up in identical ensembles, this year’s version allowed them all to wear their own funky outfits
Getting involved: Since their births, Mike and Laura’s daughters, Gigi (right) and Juju (left), have been featured in the cards – which the couple has been doing for 17 years
As well as the main Christmas card itself, Mike also shared several ‘outtakes’ from the family’s shoot, including an image of his two daughters posing alongside one another in very different ensembles.
In the main photo, the family of four is seen sitting on the ground and grinning at the camera, with Mike modeling a brown velour tracksuit, a gold Star of David necklace, a bling gold watch, gold rings, large aviator-style sunglasses, and a huge dark brown wig.
He finished the look off by holding a cigar in his right hand and flashing some very dark chest hair underneath his unzipped jacket.
Meanwhile, his wife Laura threw herself into the role of a bookie’s wife by donning skintight shiny orange pants, an off-the-shoulder leopard print top, complete with a large red flower brooch, and a pair of metallic heels.
She also donned a pair of gold hoop earrings and a slick of red lipstick, and she had her curly hair pulled back in a half updo.
Their young daughters got to show off their own creativity with this year’s card, going in completely different directions when it came to creating their characters.
Howdy! The 2018 Christmas card saw the family dressed up in western-inspired clothes including cowboy boots, double denim, cowboy hats, and beauty pageant sashes
Gigi went with a punk goth look, which featured a dark blue wig, fake lip and nose piercings, and lashings of dark black eyeliner, while her younger sister Juju looked like the perfect princess, wearing a pretty red party dress, white tights, and black ballet pumps.
While debuting the card online, Mike confessed that the idea for the theme came solely from his own ‘deep-seated desire’ to wear a gold Star of David pendant.
‘2019 “A Bookie’s Family Holiday” – The concept for this card originated with my deep-seated desire to rock a gold Star of David resting upon a chest full of hair,’ the father-of-two shared on Facebook.
‘I came up with the idea of being a Jewish bookie and then we just brainstormed about what his wife and kids would look like.’
However not everything went as planned as far as this year’s card preparations were concerned, with Mike admitting that he didn’t end up with the exact costumes he had originally envisioned when pulling the concept together.
‘Gigi wanted her character to be punk/goth and I loved the dichotomy that the card might have if she sported pentagram earrings (unfortunately, they didn’t come through in this particular photo) alongside my Star of David.
‘Gingers in paradise’: In 2017, the family was pictured with red-frizzy hair and ‘burned’ skin as they pose on a hot beach
Jokers: In 2016, they took on a hick theme, and even included a jokingly-worded message about ‘Jesis’ and his birthday
Strutting: Back in 2015 the family went high-fashion with this card, dubbed ‘Les Modèles’
Swapping it out: In 2014, the whole family cross-dressed (left), and in 2013 they opted for a dance-inspired theme (right)
‘Long story short, I searched for the costume that I had inside my head for a month before time ran out and I had to scramble to find a plan B.
‘I’m a bit disappointed myself, but on the upside, I am now the proud owner of a b*****n’ velour warm-up suit that will show everyone at the gym that I mean business!’
Mike has been posting the progress of the now-infamous family tradition on Reddit using the handle berjon1, and on Facebook, where there is an incredible archive of previous years’ efforts – including 2018’s ‘The West Texans’.
The photo sees each of the family members dressed up in traditional Texas uniform.
Writing about their decision to go with a western theme last year, Mike said: ‘We thought we would try to capitalize on the girls’ cuteness this year and leave most of the “awkwardness” to the adults.
‘When we went into the JC Penney Portrait Studio, Gigi was quick to let the staff know that we are famous.
‘Laura then told Gigi that , “You’re not famous if you have to tell people that you are famous.”
Creepy: In 2012 the couple welcomed their second child in time for the family card, and celebrated the milestone with some rather Gothic ensembles
Take a brow! All three members of the family appeared with monobrows in the 2011 offering, while both Laura and Mike appear to have worn wigs for the occasion
A throwback: Over the years, the parents have brought in their children to the tradition, starting in 2010, when they snapped this 1981-style family portrait
‘I can say from experience that the whole “Don’t you know who I am?” approach is pretty much useless if you’re looking for any free perks or special treatment, but it is almost certain to make you come off as a douche!
He added: ‘Anyway, after we did our various poses and finished the photo shoot, I showed the staff our catalog of cards on my phone and, sure enough, one of them said with a smile, “Oh yeah, I’ve seen these before!”
‘So, Gigi was right, we are famous…it’s just that nobody knows what any of us looks like, since we’re pretending to be different people in all of our cards.
‘So, it seems that we Bergerons have our own unique brand of fame – to be seen by many, yet recognizable to no one!’
Mike shared the new card along with a run-down of all the other family cards over the years, including 2016’s ‘Cussin Jerry’ card featuring the family dressed up like Joe Dirt-style redneck stereotypes.
Many of the photos appear to have been modeled off real vintage Christmas cards, with the couple donning bald caps and or wigs to great cheesy 70s and 80s-style photos.
In some, Laura’s hair is teased sky-high, while in others, Mike is sporting a cringe-worthy comb-over. In several, both of them are sporting matching sweaters.
In 2004, the couple took on the trailer trash stereotype, with Mike in a mullet wig and a T-shirt reading ‘Who farted’, and Laura sporting a crop top over a fake baby bump with a beer in hand.
Tough love: Things took a turn for the rugged in the 2009 card, which was inspired by Latin culture, and used a Spanish language greeting in place of the traditional ‘Merry Christmas’
Chill out: In the 2008 card, the couple donned the traditional ensembles worn by the Hare Krishna monks – and even paid homage to the religious sect in their Christmas greeting
Inspiration: In 2006, the couple took inspiration from a ‘delightfully goofy and uncomfortable’ card that they had seen, and then attempted to recreate it for themselves
Year after year: In 2007, the couple took on Grant Wood’s iconic painting American Gothic (left), while in 2005 they opted to dress as ‘your aunt and uncle who live in the Midwest’ (right)
Three’s a crowd? For the 2004 offering, the couple faked a pregnancy to inject additional humor into the image, with the ‘mom-to-be’ pictured swigging alcohol and smoking
The original: This card is their first effort, which was taken during the holidays in 2003
On his Reddit post, Mike explained that, in this case, the costume was actually a little bit too convincing as far as some people were concerned.
‘[The JC Penney sales lady said to me}: “I hope you’ll be coming back to JC Penney for your baby pictures.” I explained to her that [Laura] wasn’t really pregnant, and if she was, I wouldn’t let her drink or smoke.
‘She just stared at me blankly and confused. I said, “And I don’t really have a mullet, as you can see. We do joke cards for Christmas.”
‘She continued to stare at me in confusion, but the kid on the other register stopped what he was doing, came over and looked at the card and said, “Dude, that is awesome!”‘
In another, the couple are morphed using a bit of Photoshop assistance into the couple from Grant Wood’s famous American Gothic painting – albeit with a bit of Christmas lighting added to the farmhouse in the background.
Things get even more silly once the years move on with their growing family. One card, from 2013, features the family sporting glittering leotards and disco-era hairstyles above a caption telling loved ones: ‘May your holiday sparkle’.
Face swapping, painted-on unibrows and fully-balded heads – for a ‘Merry Krishmas’ – are all covered in the hilarious Christmas card canon.