If Santa were a sailor, he'd bring us all a ship - Illustrated Christmas card by Martin W. Johnson

• 1937-12

• Johnson, Martin W. (Martin Wiggo), 1893-1984

This digital image is a surrogate of an item from the Martin W. Johnson Papers (Box 6, Folder 6).

On 13 November 1936, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography's small vessel, R/V Scripps, burned at its berth following an explosion in the galley. Martin Johnson penned a Christmas poem that began, "If Santa were a sailor." SIO director Harald Sverdrup met with Robert Paine Scripps, who agreed to fund a new ship. On April 5 1937, Scripps purchased the schooner Serena for SIO, and it was renamed the E.W. Scripps. Johnson demonstrated his enthusiasm with this jaunty sketch of the ship for a 1937 Christmas card, which shows Robert Paine Scripps in a Santa suit holding the vessel.

• E.W. Scripps (Ship)

• Humor
• Illustrations

• image

Online finding aid

• Martin W. Johnson Papers

• UC Regents

[Title, Date]. Martin W. Johnson Papers. SMC 12. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.

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2020-10-28