Songbook: Christmas Carols, John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance, Christmas Club Corp., Church Choir Cover, Boston, Vintage 1971

John Hancock insured lives and, apparently, the carol singing: a promotional songbook from the early 1970s with 14 classic carols.

• Music & Lyrics: Various traditional carols
• Publisher: Christmas Club a Corporation, New York
• Promotional Sponsor: John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co., Boston, MA
• Era: Vintage, 1971–1975
• Variants: 1971 (three boys on the cover) · 1975 (two boys and one girl on the cover)
• Format: Softcover, 14 songs
• Dimensions: Approx. 4" x 6"
• Condition: 1971 edition: Very good — light cover wear, one faint stain on the front, and a small defect on the back; no folded pages, writing, or tears. 1975 edition: Excellent — near new old stock; no cover wear, tears, folded pages, or writing; minimal tanning. Please review photos closely before purchasing, as all sales are final.

Published by Christmas Club a Corporation of New York, these modest little songbooks were holiday gifts from John Hancock throughout the early 1970s, each with 14 classic Christmas carols. The 1975 editions are in especially fine condition, while the 1971 shows a bit more character.

A sweet gift for the holiday collector, the ephemera enthusiast, or anyone who simply loves a small, well-made piece of Christmas past.

John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance of Boston is one of America's great insurance institutions, and these songbooks were one of its small holiday gestures to customers. The Christmas Club idea dates to 1909, when Merkel Landis, treasurer of the Carlisle Trust Company in Pennsylvania, opened the first Christmas savings fund for about 350 local savers. Christmas Club a Corporation of New York, which published these carol booklets, was the company behind the system banks used to run their own clubs, and by 1927 some 8,000 banks were distributing more than $500 million to over 8.6 million club members.

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