Vintage Thanksgiving Proclamation Card with Turkey Die-Cut, Early 1900s

Like a modern jump-scare in a horror movie, this card is styled as an official government document — complete with red wax seal, ribbon, and gothic-lettered 'Thanksgiving Proclamation' header — and delivers its holiday cheer via a turkey that has physically burst through the parchment itself, iridescent dark feathers and red-wattled head erupting from a jagged tear like the bird received the proclamation, read it, and had thoughts. The 'Whereas' text of the proclamation is still faintly visible through the hole the turkey just destroyed, which is a level of editorial commentary on Thanksgiving that no one in 1910 was prepared to reckon with. The cursive 'Greetings' scrawled below the carnage is doing heroic, delusional work trying to make this feel festive rather than like the opening scene of a horror film set in colonial America.