Past and Present Pleasure as an Antidote to Gloom

This Christmas card is by Eric Rohman, one of the foremost designers of vintage Swedish movie posters, from the mid-1930s. Dark clouds of history were rising and the world was threatened by depression, hunger, threats of dictators and war.  The card was intended to show light shining through the gloom.  The color scheme of blue and yellow, the colors of the Swedish flag, elicited a patriotic sentiment.  There are beams of light shining up from the church and down from the stars, emphasizing vertical dimension and giving depth: the arc of the horizon suggests the Earth in a starry universe surrounded by pillars of stability.   We felt the card evoked a feeling of hope during hard times, a message reassuring in this and the coming year.  The inscription is in Swedish and means "Good Yule."

Some of the pleasures of the holidays include Christmas meal above and elaborate toy train setup at the National Botanic Garden below.  This boy could not contain his delight.