Victorian Christmas Card with Santa, Child & Doll - Chromolithograph

The open-flame candles bristling across the Christmas tree are the least subtle fire hazard in Victorian greeting card history, but they're almost a footnote compared to Santa — draped in red robes and looking distinctly like a man who has absolutely no business peeking through velvet curtains — lurking beneath this tinderbox. A curly-haired girl in a blue dress holds up a dark-haired doll as though presenting it for inspection, her expression reading not as 'joyful child at Christmas' so much as 'someone who has seen things and is choosing not to discuss them.' Meanwhile, the theatrical red draping, the ornament-and-actual-fruit tree, and Santa's decidedly backstage vantage point combine to give this 'Merry Christmas' card the warm, cozy energy of a fever dream staged in an opera house by someone who didn't quite understand children.