Vintage Christmas Greeting Card Santa with Tree, Early 1900s

Santa seems convinced he can physically deliver an absolutely enormous decorated Christmas tree that threatens to swallow him whole — the tree bristling with ornaments, a tiny doll, garland, and what appears to be a trumpet, because nothing says 'Christ's birthday' like brass instruments jammed into pine branches. His red-suited, white-fur-trimmed figure suggests he's given the logistics of delivery absolutely no thought whatsoever, clutching what looks like a wooden toy cross under one arm like a theological afterthought while sporting a fetching red cone hat that suggests he moonlights as a garden gnome. The combination of 'I'm coming!' scrawled at the bottom and his determined, slightly manic march toward the viewer creates the distinct impression that this card was designed to terrorize children into good behavior rather than fill them with holiday cheer.