Vintage Halloween Greeting Card with Ghost & Jack-O'-Lantern

Picture this: two Victorian children have successfully constructed and are now operating what amounts to a pumpkin-headed ghost puppet on poles, flanking their creation with what can only be described as disturbingly serene expressions. One child wears a pink frock, the other darker clothing, and together they prop up this white sheet contraption topped with a grinning jack-o-lantern head—the whole apparatus held aloft by two visible sticks like the world's most cursed marionette. Their composure suggests they've done this before and will do it again. 'A Joyous Halloween' declares the banner above, which is doing a lot of heavy lifting given the scene depicted—a sentence that should have raised more red flags at the greeting card company but apparently did not.