Merry Christmas from Jack Davis

If you ever wondered what original Christmas card art by Mad legend Jack Davis looks like, today is your lucky day.

Jack Davis
AbeBooks listing accessed November 15, 2025

https://www.abebooks.com/signed/Original-Comical-Drawing-Santa-Claus-Signed/32343172430/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=viewbook

Jack Davis
AbeBooks item description

05158

Edward Gorey: In Stubville, Nebraska

There is, alas, no such place as Stubville, Nebraska, but that in no way diminishes the plausibility of Edward Gorey's 1987 Christmas card. It was published in an edition of 400.

In Stubville, Nebraska on December 23, 1911 Christmas tree ornaments fell from a cloudless sky.
Edward Gorey
Christmas card, 1987

Edward Gorey
AbeBooks listing accessed December 15, 2022

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=11841986419&searchurl=kn%3DEdward%2BGorey%2BChristmas%2Bcard%26sortby%3D1&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-image6

04176

Edward Frascino: Witch List

Last year, original New Yorker cartoon art by Edward Frascino changed hands on eBay. Published in the issue of December 19, 1988, the drawing depicts a witch stirring the contents of a hot cauldron while confiding in a black cat. The caption has faded but the drawing retains its spooky charms.

"I'm not sending Christmas Cards this year."
Edward Frascino
Original art
The New Yorker, December 19, 1988, p. 35

"I'm not sending Christmas Cards this year."
Edward Frascino
Framed original art
The New Yorker, December 19, 1988, p. 35

Edward Frascino
eBay listing ended November 2, 2021

https://www.ebay.com/itm/154674090725?hash=item24034b52e5%3Ag%3AdbYAAOSwcfFhbjak&nma=true&si=WEtIFz5%252FkfY9UxP8WWeB%252FCaqeVQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Edward Frascino
eBay item description

Edward Frascino
eBay bid history
The one eBay bidder leaves a second bid, just in case.

"I'm not sending Christmas Cards this year."
Edward Frascino
Original art
The New Yorker, December 19, 1988, p. 35

Cartoons by Danny Shanahan and Edward Frascino

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1988-12-19/flipbook/034/

Note:  Scans or photos of original cartoon art by Edward Frascino are just the ingredients to concoct the witch's brew of a future blog post, if I may be permitted a metaphor. 

Barnum & Bailey's Three-Ring Binder
Danny Shanahan
The New Yorker, December 19, 1988, p. 34

04157

Charles Addams: The Addams Family Snowmen Holiday Cards

A holiday card published by Pomegranate repurposes Charles Addams's dust jacket art from his cartoon collection Favorite Haunts (1976). See how many characters from the Addams Family you can find. At twelve cards for $12.95, it's hard to do better than this.

https://www.pomegranate.com/collections/holiday-cards/products/charles-addams-the-addams-family-snowmen-holiday-cards

https://thecarycollection.com/products/favorite-haunts

03827

Edward Gorey: Of Fireplaces and Fruitcake

Another boxed set of holiday cards by Edward Gorey comes with twenty cards in four designs. These sets are available from Pomegranate for $16.95.

https://www.pomegranate.com/products/edward-gorey-holiday-card-assortment

Gorey's skills as a writer are every bit as remarkable as his artistic talent.

While the fireplace is being decorated, should the fire beneath be lit? Edward Gorey's sleeping Christmas cat has the absurdly difficult name of the king of the Hittite Empire.

Gorey also contemplates what to do with the Christmas fruitcake. The origin of the airborne cake at top right is, it seems, a mystery.

On second thought, the flaming punch seems far more hazardous than the cozy fireplace.

Inside the Suppiluliumas card

ebay.com/itm/273957032834?....

03820 

Edward Gorey: Gorey Holidays

The Gorey Holidays boxed set of Christmas cards contains an assortment of four Edward Gorey designs. The box's artwork, also on one of the cards, depicts some bare-bones tree trimming. It may seem familiar: it is the design of Gorey's first New Yorker cover, the only one to be published in his lifetime.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/373787879194?..._

Edward Gorey
The New Yorker, December 21, 1992

03819 

Edward Gorey: Christmas Under Glass

Edward Gorey's singular art captures the spirit of the holiday season. Here's another greeting card spotted on eBay, again licensed by the Edward Gorey Charitable Trust.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1339

December 3, 2021 Update:  Sold!

03818

Edward Gorey: Fun in Hats

Those wearing hats have all the fun in one fanciful Season's Greetings card with art by Edward Gorey.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/265416134679?

Image added December 12, 2021

https://www.pomegranate.com/collections/holiday-cards/products/edward-gorey-oh-what-fun-holiday-cards

03817