R.C. Blume "Bingle Jells" Original Oil on Masonite, Signed & Dated 1981

Santa is drunk. Not jolly-drunk — actually drunk. He's got one leg kicked up, a coupe of champagne sloshing in one hand, a sparkler fizzing in the other, and the kind of bloodshot, gap-toothed grin that says he found the good stuff hours ago. Around him, hand-lettered yellow block letters spell out BINGLE JELLS — because at this point in the evening, "Jingle Bells" is a little beyond him. Musical staves and floating notes spiral across a sage-green ground like the room is starting to spin.

R.C. Blume signed and dated this in the lower right — 11-27-81 — which means he finished it the Friday after Thanksgiving, right on schedule for whoever needed it hung before the season started. The medium is oil on Masonite, the hand is that of a working sign painter who could also actually draw: confident brushwork, cartoon-illustration chops, lettering with personality. Whether this hung in a tavern back room, a supper club, a VFW hall, or somebody's rec bar, it did its job perfectly. Forty-plus years later, it still does.

CONDITION

Good with age-appropriate wear throughout. Scuffing and surface soiling across the painted ground; a small chip and indentation at the lower right edge; a screw hole through the panel within the music-staff design; edge chipping with minor delamination at one corner; scattered handling marks consistent with decades of seasonal use. Paint film is stable; signature and date are clear and legible.

DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS

• Overall: 24" H × 24" W × 1/8" D
• Medium: Oil on Masonite panel
• Artist: R.C. Blume
• Signed: Lower right
• Dated: 11-27-81
• Presentation: Unframed