Victorian Children Christmas Tree Greeting Card, 1880s-1890s

The girl in the blue dress appears to be asserting dominance over the ornament selection, hand raised in the universal gesture of 'excuse me, I was TOUCHING that first,' while her counterpart in the dramatic red bow dress kneels in apparent submission, gazing upward with wide-eyed devotion — because Frohe Weihnachten, indeed, two rosy-cheeked Victorian children are having what can only be described as a passive-aggressive standoff beneath a tree absolutely bristling with open-flame candles, nothing saying 'holiday cheer' quite like a fire hazard decorated with glass ornaments and what appears to be actual fruit. On the table beside them sits what appears to be a small cake, as if the real gift this Christmas is the passive-aggressive sibling dynamic we accumulated along the way.