Mel Crawford (Canadian, B. 1925) "A Winter Sleigh Ride" Signed lower left. Original Oil painting on Illustration Board. Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation. This painting was originally published on the Fleetwood First Day Cover for the Canada 35c Merry Christmas Joyeux Noel 1980 stamp issued October 22, 1980. The hustle and bustle of cities has always added a special excitement to the Christmas season. All across North America, cities and towns annually don their holiday veneer of lights and tinsel to celebrate the season. And, each Christmas the decorations seem to become more elaborate as individual homes decorate doorways or roofs and lawns blossom with lights of red, blue, green, and orange. Merchants, always at the forefront of the fun, create fanciful wonderlands for their customers with store front windows soon ablaze with enchanting exhibitions of tinsel and glitter. Indoors and out, the decorations call out a city-wide Merry Christmas to all who pass by. In most cities, Christmas turns parking lots into crowded Christmas tree forests and often a grand parade honors the Yuletide season for all who dare venture out in the frigid weather. Throughout America holiday excitement abides in every heart and a Christmas greeting stirs on every lip. In Canada's Montreal, the excitement is as intense as in any other city on the continent. And though the painting on this First Day Cover recalls Montreal in a quieter time, the festivities were just as heartfelt then as they are today. The particularly delightful scene on the stamp, no doubt a nostalgic one for modern day Canadians, first appeared on Canada's early Christmas cards. Created in the 1930s by the renowned Couttes Company, these Christmas cards soon became a favorite Canadian Christmas tradition that endures even today. Image Size: 14 x 12 in. Overall Size: 17.25 x 14.75 in. Unframed. (B06721)