Horse-Themed Christmas Cards During the Great Depression

The Pinto horse Thunder and his person, Merle Little,
appeared on Christmas cards Merle sent in 1932.

Since Christmas is almost here, I thought it would be fun to look at several examples of personalized horse-themed Christmas cards from the early 1930s.

By the time the Great Depression began, horses were already common images on greeting cards. We can illustrate this with examples I found at an estate sale in the San Gabriel Valley several years ago. The families whose names are inside the cards sent cards with somewhat stereotypical images of horses in winter. The horses pull carriages and coaches full of revelers, or they pull sleighs, delivering Christmas trees to homes.

Many of the cards have a distinctive "deco" style typical of the period.  The one just below, shows a long-eared equid of some kind. 

The cards from the San Gabriel Valley estate sale show classic Christmas designs, straight out of fairy tale New England or even Great Britain. 

By contrast, the personalized Christmas cards that Monrovia/Duarte horse rancher Merle Little pasted into his scrapbook in the early 1930s show a distinctive Western United States flair. These customized cards show that Southern California riders who came from very different backgrounds, were sometimes good enough friends to warrant sending a card. Their horses brought them together. 

The first card is a small piece of Hollywood and history: it was from the legendary silent film cowboy Tom Mix, showing him standing next to his horse, Tony, Jr.

I'm not sure where Merle Little would have met Tom Mix; it was possibly either through participating in equestrian events like rodeos and parades, or when Merle loaned some of his horses to film studios for cowboy movies.  The scrapbook also contains other Tom Mix memorabilia, including an article about the retirement of Mix's horse Tony in November 1932; he was replaced by Tony, Jr. (no relation to the original horse).

Two other cards in Merle's scrapbook were from people Merle probably encountered while riding in parades, rodeos, and other equestrian events. 

This green, white, and red card was sent by Dick Dickson. Dickson was the district manager of Fox West Coast Theatres in Los Angeles. 

Newspaper articles of the day tell us that Dickson owned absolutely stellar "silver mounted riding gear," a "prize-winning sensation" in parades in which the Los Angeles Sheriff's Posse rode. Both Dickson and Merle Little were members of that group. Dickson's parade tack was "almost entirely encrusted with silver and beautifully moulded and chased, is the expensive handicraft of Edwin H. Bohlin, Hollywood silversmith and saddlemaker."

Visalia, California Times-Delta, 4 June 1936.

The next card, also comic in nature, is from Elmer Awl. Merle Little knew him from his participation in the annual Rancheros Visitadores trail rides in Santa Barbara County, and probably from other equestrian events.

"Feliz Pascua" usually means "Happy Easter," but it can also refer to Christmas.
The image shows Christmas gifts, a candy cane,
a small Christmas tree and a holly wreath. 

Both Dickson and Awl used Christmas card designs by Western artist Joe DeYong. A protege of Charles Russell, DeYong was well-known for his art depicting Native Americans in the early and mid-20th century. Each holiday greeting card shows a different, cartoon-cowboy style; each card was customized for the sender. 

Merle Little had his own Christmas cards customized, possibly at a local print shop. His 1931 card contains a poem, "Christmas Greetings from California," and a photo of Merle riding his black and white Pinto horse Thunder.

Merle's card for 1932 shows him with two Pintos in silver Western tack. The tall horse on the left is Thunder; the smaller one on the right was named Patches. Unlike Dickson, Merle crafted his own silver-mounted Western saddle. (It will be the subject of a future blog post.)

The final Christmas card in Merle Little's scrapbook show Merle and his bride Edna May (Price) on Thunder and another Pinto, Lightning. It dates to 1934.

Wishing all the readers of this blog a peaceful, hope-filled holiday season.

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This link will take you to photos of a 2016 auction for an Edwin H. Bohlin "Dick Dickson" model saddle from the collection of Marty Stuart:  

https://www.cowanauctions.com/lot/edward-h-bohlin-dick-dickson-silver-parade-saddle-with-matching-bridle-from-the-collection-of-marty-stuart-890292/?fbclid=IwAR25L0SmJPOnFl1OJ70UJQVjlAk_eJblsqvTnOcKEo7y9nnQiO5HIe0QkTY