Victorian Christmas Wishes Card with Santa, Reindeer & Bell

There's an unsettling intensity to this Pre-Coca-Cola Santa that radiates less 'jolly gift-giver' and more 'woodland wizard on a bender.' He strides through the night in a teal blue robe with a holly sprig jammed into his hat like he's daring you to say something, hauling a lantern in one hand and what appears to be a small evergreen branch as a weapon in the other. A reindeer presses uncomfortably close to his hip while a tiny stuffed bear dangles from his belt bag alongside a jester doll and a little brass horn — essentially the world's most chaotic fanny pack. The whole composition is framed in holly and berries with a dramatic orange sunset behind him, which really says 'I am not here to deliver gifts, I am here to settle scores.' Those yellow gloves, that beatific smile, the reindeer's weirdly soulful gaze — this isn't Christmas cheer, this is a man who has fully transcended Christmas and is now something older and stranger.