Jolly Old Santa Christmas Cards

This Christmas card set opens on Santa the way Christmas actually felt when you were small, crouched over an overstuffed sack, absolutely loaded, absolutely jolly.

This is a 1912 watercolor by Jessie Willcox Smith, pulled from her illustrated edition of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. It is the image people were carrying in their heads when the whole tradition was still being built. That is why it hits the way it does. Not nostalgia for something you read about. Nostalgia for a feeling you actually had.

Jolly only comes out at Christmas. One season, one word, and this Santa is the whole reason that word exists. Rocking horse at his feet. Toy soldiers spilling out of the sack. An American flag on a stick. Everything a kid would have wanted, all of it right there.

The set is 24 cards across four designs, Warmest Christmas Wishes, Feelin' Holly & Jolly, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, Christmas Blessings, each 4 x 5.5 inches, blank inside. Four ways to say the same thing: I am choosing Christmas this year. I am not waiting for it to find me.

Some years that is the move. You had a year. Christmas showed up anyway. And you reach for something that hands the feeling over instead of just describing it.