Victorian Christmas Greeting Card Holly Mistletoe Gold Boot 1908

With the unbridled optimism of someone who actually believed this was a good idea, some 1908 designer looked at a brown leather shoe and thought, 'Yes, this is the vessel that will carry Christmas into hearts and homes.' Stuffed to anatomically impossible capacity with holly branches and a conspicuous sprig of mistletoe dead center — its white berries practically winking at you — this shoe has transcended footwear to become a lumpy cornucopia of festive chaos. The holly explodes outward in every direction like the shoe sneezed, and H.I. Robbins of Boston apparently saw nothing unusual about shipping this image to the masses as a wholesome yuletide greeting. Truly the 'live laugh love' sign of its era.