My eBay alerts for Supreme Court paraphernalia payed off again. I purchased a Christmas Card sent by Chief Justice Earl Warren and his family to a Californian at some point during his tenure (I can’t quite figure out when).

The letter is sent to Miss Velma v. Mayes of Santa Ana, California from the Supreme Court. “Postage and fees paid by U.S. Supreme Court.” Alas, there is no postmark to give me the date. At the top of the envelope, someone wrote in ink:

Warren was Justice of Supreme Court.

Below that someone wrote, and scribbled out:

After that when he was Governor.

The card is absolutely adorable. It depicts Chief Justice Warren as Santa Clause, in a sled being pulled by his family and dogs. It says

Earl, Nina, Virginia, Earl, Dorothy, Nina, Bob, Jim, Margaret, Jimmy and Jeff  . . . . Warren

and Porky, Nozama, Little Nosey, Brownie, Bo, Spade and Sparkle

All of us wish each of you a merry Christmas . . . and a happy New Year!

Along the bottom, Warren signed his name. Written next to it is “Gov. Calif. 1942-148-50.”

According to his obituary, Earl and his wife Nina had five children, Virginia, Earl Jr., Dorothy, Nina Elizabeth, and Robert (Bob). These are all in the first sled. Tagging along in the second sled is James (Earl adopted Nina’s son from her first marriage), his wife Margaret, and their sons Jimmy and Jeff.

The three horses leading the sled were the Warren family’s three horses: Porky, Nozama, and Little Nosey (see Warren’s oral history). I assume that Brownie, Bo, Spade, and Sparkle, are the four dogs depicted on the card.

What a cool find!