Victorian Santa Claus Christmas Greeting Card with Doll - Antique

The bonneted porcelain doll is hilariously oversized relative to Santa's hand—he's hoisting it aloft like a trophy he's about to auction off, while his other hand drags a lumpy sack from which a clown and what appears to be a toy soldier are already attempting escape, a rational response, frankly. His red fur-trimmed coat, blue pants, and brown boots give him the energy of a man who got dressed in three different decades and is absolutely fine with it. The gold ornate border and elegantly scripted 'A Merry Xmas' text are doing their level best to class up what is essentially a large bearded man grinning while displaying a doll like he's on the world's most festive game show. By modern standards, the combination of the fixed-smile doll, the escaping toys, and Santa's expression of unbridled self-satisfaction reads less as 'jolly gift-giver' and more as 'collector who has already named all his acquisitions.'