Thursday, February 21, 2019

Vintage Valentine's Day Ad

Hello! The end of February is close, so I thought I'd show off a vintage Valentine's Day ad in honor of the month's signature event. 

This FTD ad appeared in a Reader's Digest sometime between the mid-50's/early 60's. That was the range of years in the bundle of Reader's Digest magazines that I found at a thrift store a couple of years ago. That bundle remains a favorite find of mine, because I love vintage magazines. 

Here's a close-up of the three men in the ad:

They clearly are from very different backgrounds, but they have something in common: they're all holding what appears to be a small FTD catalogue, and they're all on the phone (rotary dial, of course) to order floral arrangements from FTD. According to the ad, a total of 26 arrangements were available in that catalogue, so our men had plenty to choose from.

Now let's "meet" our three gentlemen up close. 

Mr. Suave here says "...the H-17 bouquet for Valentine's Day. Does the $7.50 include the vase? Swell! I'll take twelve..."

And to underscore this large order, Mr. Suave is shown with twelve small picture frame - undoubtedly with photos of those twelve lady friends in them. Ugh. I don't think this sort of behavior would go over too well in a magazine ad today. 

The gentleman in the middle:


And he says "...yeah, C-1...with all them little roses in it. How quick can you get it to Hackensack?"

This man is dressed in rugged work clothes, and he's calling from a pay phone, so he's away from home. Truck driver, maybe, or perhaps a delivery man? No matter, as those long as C-1 gets sent to Hackensack in time!

Our first two seem quite assertive about their orders, but not so with the last gentleman:


He says "H-13, please. Sign it, 'Love, Norm.' Wait...better make that 'Regards, Norman Q. Frisby.' It's been awhile since I've seen her and..."

Norman Q. Frisby may have a good white collar job somewhere - he's dressed in a nice suit - but he sure is a wimpy sort. Still, I couldn't help but wonder why it'd been awhile since he'd seen the woman he was sending the floral arrangment to. Had he been neglecting her because of working too much at the office? In the meantime, had another man begun to move in on her? 

Or maybe it was his mother that he had been neglecting, though it seems odd that he'd want to sign his message that formally. But I guess I'll never know. 

Like I said, three very different men are depicted in this ad. To further highlight their differences, each "quote" was printed in a different font. Nevertheless, they all had one thing in common: a reliance on FTD to help them out on Valentine's Day.

Friday, February 15, 2019

Get Carded: Valentines for Vets 2019

Hello! As I've done for the past several years, I made two dozen valentines and mailed them off to a regional VA medical center. I enjoy making greeting cards, so why not do it for a good cause?

Here's a brief sample of how this year's batch of cards turned out:

And a few close-ups:

A vintage dictionary page is the basis for this heart.

This heart looks vintage, but it's actually an art paper imposter.

But the vintage look is authentic here; the heart was created on a piece of 1880's ledger paper.

The rest of the materials are:
  • White card stock
  • Two heart stencils: one that made stripes and one that made a scalloped edge. The stencils were colored in with marker or colored pencil.
  • The scalloped-edge hearts were made on white art papers scraps, then the striped-heart papers were added.
  • Pink masking tape embellishment
  • As seen in the photo showing all three cards is the word "LOVE", created with a Dymo Organizer Xpress label maker. 
 Yes, it's a bit of work making this many cards, but I'm glad to do it for our veterans. I hope my efforts gladdened their hearts on Valentine's Day!


 
 

Friday, February 8, 2019

Get Carded: A Month Of Many Cards

Hello! February is a month of many cards for me, primarily because I send out a few dozen valentines to family, friends and to the Valentines for Vets program.

But the first two cards I mailed out this month had nothing to do with February 14th - I made one birthday card and one sympathy card. 

The sympathy card, and its close-up:

I find sympathy cards hard to write, so I'm grateful that the rubber stamped sentiment helped express my feelings.

Materials used:
  • white card stock
  • off-white art paper scrap
  • image taken from Flavia's Cake and Candles, a small gift book I found for free at a local thrift store
  • Martha Stewart fine white glitter applied to the white flowers in the image. It doesn't show up in the photo but added a gentle, soft touch to the card. 
  • pink organza ribbon bow
  • "May all your precious memories help bring you peace and comfort through the days ahead" stamped in black ink onto vintage paper scrap
The birthday card:

And a close-up:

Materials used:
  • white card stock
  • image taken from Flavia's Cake and Candles (with a title like that, you know that the book is actually meant for birthdays, but I thought the floral image was appropriate for the sympathy card since flowers are common at funerals)
  • Martha Stewart fine white glitter applied to the stars on the plate, the cake icing and the candle flame. As with the sympathy card, the glitter added a nice touch.
  • pink organza ribbon bow
  • "happy birthday" stamped in black ink onto art paper scrap
I think that both cards turned out well and I hope the recipients liked them.

You'll notice that I used a few of the same elements for both cards: images from the same book, white glitter and pink organza ribbon bows. It's easier to design cards when you can use some of the same supplies, and easy is what I need during this month of many cards!

I'll show off more of the cards I've designed in my next post.