A stately colonial manor glows against a hushed winter landscape, framed by poinsettias in the foreground and a festive red-and-green rope border — a Christmas postcard as elegant and unhurried as the season itself. Sent by Marguerite to her friend Rose at 591 East 127th Street in the Bronx, New York, this linen-era holiday card carries a warmly apologetic note: "Rose I suppose you think we are fine for not writing but as you know we were away so long that I had to catch up the times." Marguerite listed her return address as 1122 Carroll St., adding a personal domestic touch to this mass-produced greeting. The front reads "Wishing A Jolly Xmas and A Prosperous New Year to You" — a phrase that bridges the Victorian and modern idiom of holiday correspondence.