Victorian Santa Claus Christmas Greeting Card with Holly

The first thing you notice is Santa's eyes — deeply intense, barely visible beneath a cascading avalanche of white hair and beard so voluminous it swallows his entire body, leaving only that pair of penetrating stares and a barely-visible smirk, the expression of a man who has seen things, terrible things, probably in your home. This portrait subject doubles as vague menace and apparent auditionee for a 19th-century psychological thriller. The ornate illuminated lettering spelling out 'A Merry Christmas' on a scroll banner below him has the energy of a ransom note written by someone who also owns a lot of holly. John Winsch copyrighted this vision in 1912, which means someone looked at this brooding, fur-swathed specter and thought, 'yes, this is the one — frame it, sell it, send it to Grandma.'