Bring Me the Head of Santa Claus!

That's rather complex for a Christmas card message!

Was there a public debate going on in late 1932 (when FDR would have been President-elect) about America being too Santa-like?

I think the key to it is, "Let's take off the mask and stop playing Santa Claus to the entire world," which I take to mean that he's suggesting that the U.S. should deal with its domestic problems before providing aid to other countries (this was during the Great Depression). See a little more explanation at Take Off the Mask and Stop Playing Santa Claus.

That he would list it as (apparently) the #1 thing that the U.S. needed to do in the serious crisis of the Depression, while referring to it in a manner that suggests the recipient would be expected to know what was being referred to, is quite interesting. I had not previously heard of this as having been a major political issue around that time. It's what I like most about postcards -- coming to understand the times as revealed in the ephemeral thoughts and images of those who were living through them, rather than in the stripped-down summary version that we receive as "history".

Thanks! I agree--learning about the whys and wherefores related to a particular postcard or other item of ephemera makes it much more interesting!