Scary Christmas Bear and Santa

by j4p4n - uploaded on April 15, 2010, 6:20 pm

Is it just me or are many old illustrations really quite creepy? Why is Santa dancing with this ferocious looking bear? Why are the children lining up behind them without being scared? I don't why, this whole picture just creeps me out. Originally used to illustrate a December 1904 (read that as: totally public domain) advertisement in the The San Francisco Call newspaper. The original ad was for a company called Pragers. They sold things like: scarf pins for men, women and children (50 cents), vests ($3.85), kindergarten goods for girls (50 cents), porcelain clocks ($2.50) and all other manner of things. (They should have posted the ad with a warning like this: prices subject to change due to temporal readjustment when advertisement is read over 100 years later.)