Vintage Santa Claus Christmas Card with Reindeer, Early 1900s

Why is Santa turned completely away from the viewer to have what appears to be an intensely personal moment with two reindeer while his sleigh sits fully loaded behind him, stuffed with gifts and what looks suspiciously like a Christmas tree he's just going to re-gift? The verse below, rendered in gold lettering, does not say 'Merry Christmas' or 'Happy Holidays' — it says, essentially, 'please, God, let me believe again,' which is either deeply poetic or a Christmas card having a full existential crisis on a snowy Tuesday. The reindeer, decked out in elaborate jeweled harnesses, stare directly at the viewer with the dead-eyed thousand-yard stare of creatures who have seen things, while Santa in his fur-trimmed red coat remains pointedly, deliberately, suspiciously turned away — a man with secrets, a sleigh full of loot, and absolutely zero interest in making eye contact.