CHRISTMAS CARD from Winston Churchill to his son, Randolph Churchill

Description

INSCRIBED entirely in Churchill’s hand: “To Randolph & June from Winston S. Churchill” beneath the printed greeting: With Christmas Thoughts and Wishes.

The inscription is in black ink, save for the words “& June,” which are in blue ink. Winston Churchill’s son Randolph and June Osborne became engaged in October 1948 and were married just a few weeks later on the 2nd of November. For the elder Churchill, June’s name was clearly an afterthought on this Christmas card sent to his son that year.

Tipped-onto the card face is a color print of Churchill’s painting “St Georges Motel.” During the 1930’s, Churchill came regularly to St. Georges, a chateau approximately 50 miles from Paris, to relax and to paint, staying as a guest of the owners, Jacques and Consuelo Balsan. His last visit was before the war in August 1939. In her book, WINSTON CHURCHILL: His Life as a Painter, Churchill’s daughter, Mary Soames, wrote of this last peacetime holiday for her father, “Mr. Churchill grew graver and graver as he sat wrapped in thought, and then said slowly and sorrowfully: ‘Before the harvest is gathered in – we shall be at war.’”

This card was given by Randolph Churchill to Grace Reed, who worked for him at his London home in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s as a member of his housekeeping staff. The card was acquired directly from the Reed family.