vintage cards

My mom was cleaning out her cupboards the other day and came across an envelope of old cards. And I mean old. Ahem. I could insert a joke about how old my mom is here, but I'm thinking she would not exactly appreciate it. (hi mom!) 'Cause you know, she's not old, she's just old enough to be my mother. Anyhow, these cards are what I would call vintage if I bought them in a second hand store. And I most certainly would buy them, because they are awesome. My mom was going to throw them away, if can you believe it! But luckily my kindred spirit pack-rat dad was around and told her that she was under no circumstances to throw them because I would want them. And of course he was right. 

So the story (and you know with me there is always a story) is that my mom got all these get well cards when she was in the hospital as a teenager. She was going to university in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to become a teacher. And during the winter she went out tobogganing with some other kids for fun. The fun ended when she hit a bump and broke her back. Seriously, she broke her back. To this day, whenever we toboggan (and we often do in the winter time, we have a big hill behind our house), there are two rules. 1. slide down in the middle, walk up the side. (This makes a ton of sense and seems obvious to me, but you'd be surprised how many people turn around and run right back up the track they just slid down. It ruins the track, and also makes for possible collisions) 2. When riding on a wooden toboggan, always sit on your knees. Yes, it seems less comfortable, to sit on a wooden slab on your knees, but that way, when you hit a bump your legs will act as a spring and cushion your spine. You might break a leg, but I think you'll agree that if you had to choose you'd rather break a leg than your back. Am I right? Yes. So take that as a lesson. Because my mom was sitting on her butt on the toboggan, and when she hit a big icy bump, she broke her back. And had to go to the hospital. For two weeks, and then had a week of recuperation at the home of a local pastor. And then she had to wear a body brace for another four months after that. Which I can only imagine really, really sucks when you are a teenager, in a foreign country (the US; we're Canadian) thousands of miles from your family who live on a farm and can't exactly afford to hop on a plane and come and sit at your bedside. So remember that the next time you toboggan. 

Anyhow, many kind people sent my mom cards while she was in the hospital. Which she has saved for the last 50 years. Which says something in and of itself. And now that I think of it, is probably the reason my mom is such a good card sender/letter writer herself. She knows how valuable it is to have someone reach out to you when you are sad and hurt and lonely. The arrival of a little brightly coloured envelope can really pick up your day. Another good lesson.

So, these cards, aside from being meaningful to my mom, are quite adorable. They are from the 50's of course, a decade whose aesthetic I enjoy a great deal. I went through the whole pile and scanned in the best ones, and I'm going to share them with you. But there are SO MANY that I decided to break it down into categories. Which are as follows. Girls and Ladies, Kittens, Puppies, Funny Animals, and Florals. There are even more options than that (religious, scenery etc.) but the aforementioned categories are the ones that I find most appealing, so those are the ones I'm going to show you. But I can't show them all on one post so today I'm going to show you the Girls and Ladies category. 

So cute! I love the yellowed scotch tape on the edges. Most of them had some tape and tape residue on them, and I can only imagine it's because my mom had them taped on the wall, so she could see them from her bed. Which makes me want to go back in time and hug her. 

And look, its a fold our card! So many of these cards had adorable fold out features, or added on pieces, or even hand painted glitter and effects. 

This one is very cute...

But also kind of pin-up ish, which is a little weird. As a side note, was this whole elastic-snapping-and-panties-falling-down-thing very common in the 50's? There are a ton of images like this from that era. Was elastic different then? Was this sort of undergarment failure a regular occurrence? I know, its those darn frisky little dogs, perverts every one of them! (hm, just did a little research on the internet and found out that Art Frahm was the originator of this theme. Very funny website here about his obsession with falling panty pinups. Its a little saucy though, so be warned)

Love the hat, babe!

 And of course the matching gloves. 

And this one doesn't really fit into the category, but I'm including it anyways. I love the cherries and the faux cross-stitch. The cherries are a separate piece that was cut out and glued on. 

And the best part...  ...on the back there is a recipe for Cherry Tarts. Could it get any more '50s than that. 

Come back tomorrow for Puppies and Kittens and other cute animals. As opposed to funny animals which we'll cover the day after tomorrow. Such fun!

Comments

[Marcia Van Drunen]

yep, waiting for more ... :)
(Hi Dre's Mom!)