by Pamela E. Apkarian-Russell

Roycroft, Stickley, we all know the names of the leaders in theArts and Crafts movement. Furniture, books, pottery, bronzes, jewelry,and bookends, conjure up images and yet one of the most important partsof the movement is forgotten and that, with the exception of the booksthat Elbert Hubbard did are almost unknown to most. The name Vollandmight invoke a memory or two because of the Johnny Gruelle Raggedy Ann& Andy books but Volland and others like them were producingpostcards, tally cards, invitations with some of the most sublime andelegantly simple designs that were very desirable in their era butsadly overlooked today.

Buffalo, NY had many companies such as Sanford and Prince thatconcentrated on delicate and dainty artwork and meaningful sayings.Indeed, in an era when most people cringe at the insipid sayings on thecards they receive, back in the Art Deco era and Arts and Crafts erathe sayings were all important.

Some of the most important poets and orators of their age were either quoted or paraphrased on cards. The Scottish Poet Robert Burns was paraphrased on a Volland card, “If a body meets a bunny, Late on Easter Eve, and a bunny seems to carry, something up his sleeve, Should a body, ask a bunny, things, or ponder on it, would it be an Easter egg, or just an Easter bonnet?” Silly? Perhaps, but certainly less insipid than, Wishing you a happy Easter, or what ever the holiday was. The minimal use of color with fade away designs and backgrounds could produce stunning graphics and for very little investment.

Christmas and greeting type cards can be quite ornate and they areso beautifully printed on lovely crinkly or art paper. How delightfulto find them in their original boxes but how rare. Boxed sets of tallycards for the ever popular games of whist or kitty whist, which werevery popular back then, turn up even less seldom and can even haveinserted lace in them. These cards are now being looked at as smallvignettes of art which are collectible because they are art, or becausethe publishers are of note, as in the case of Roycroft and the seriesof Elbert Hubbard pictures and sayings, which seem to be one of the fewpaper items outside of books that most people know about. It comes asquite a shock to many an antique dealer and collector that there areitems out there like Buzza mottos and prints, let alone many items thatwere printed as artistic endeavors . Art Deco may not be the Arts andCrafts movement but often the two of them merge as an artisticendeavor. Woodblocks and engravings also, show up on cards. When thegreeting postcard faded out in the late teens and ended shortlythereafter, the folded and the flat card that was inserted intoenvelopes became popular. Many of the envelopes had beautiful tissueinserts to match the card or compliment it. These are becomingdifficult to find and collectible in their own right . With theincreasing mass produced, foreign made, greetings being produced todayby high profit companies, many a wise person is turning to these oldercards and recycling them. Even those that are written on with a namecan be reused. With them properly mounted on some other type of paperand an “I thought of you when I saw this vintage card” or “this card iseven older than you, Happy Birthday!”

As a society we have become exceedingly blasé and indifferent. Wehave forgotten the thought is much more important than the price. Why pay ten dollars for a card someone else may send the person whenfor half the price you can purchase a card that will retain its valueand show an incredible amount of thought and sentiment? Even throughthe forties and fifties people were keeping their cards because theywere art or they were beautiful and definitely because they weremeaningful. So you’re not a poet but that doesn’t mean you cannot takean antique card mount it with a nicely printed or computer generatedscript of how you really feel and frame it up. “Mom, I love you becauseyou are like the suns rays.” Or “My life would be like a starless skyif you were not my friend” or …you are the one making this up. not me,use your imagination. Even damaged cards can be recycled this way witha pair of pinking shears. Or creative scissor craft. I’ve seen a few ofthese showing up for sale at craft fairs embellished with calligraphyand paint and they really seem to sell well. We have also, seenphotocopies and computer generated pictures done up personalized butthey just aren’t the same. One is so original and beautiful the other,misses the mark but still beats the store bought variety. It is showingyou care enough to give the very best. After all the Arts and Craftsmovement was not so much about style but craftsmanship. It is thedifference between you and I splashing paint on a canvass or if a Dali,Picasso, or Ashile Gorky did. For some reason, the best of these redonecards I’ve seen for sale have been by men but I own many a letter,card, envelope with original and or added vintage art that customersand friends have sent to me over the years. They are definitely notthrown away as they are art.

When the late Abe Samuels collection was sold in Iowa last year the last two lots were two box lots of the original hand cut items silhouettes, and the cards he made from them. The family could have cared less about them These are incredible works done by a genuine artist. So much true art goes up to auction or out for sale but so much more is lost and forgotten. These two lots were treasures and above all the items I purchased there this was what made me shiver with excitement. There is a book to be written on these, but probably no publisher to produce it. Art is in the eye of the beholder and the artist.

We antique dealers brag at what wonderful recyclers we are. We takeour bags down to the local group shops and give away those things thatcan be recycled to others but when it comes to paper we often lackvision and compassion for the artifacts of the past. Textiles oftensuffer this fate. Workmanship was all-important to the Roycrofters,whether it was the written word, art, or furniture . How often has itbeen said about an item “the concept is great but the execution ispoor” and the items is passed up as not worthy. As fi it were a bruisedor damaged piece of fruit. A hand done recycled piece will never betossed into the shredder or forgotten five seconds after the firstglance.

The simplicity of Stickley furniture and the prints and cards of the era should have an important message for us today. Quality, thought, and empathy have been incorporated into these items and we, the caretakers of the DNA of our cultural past should remember that we do not have to accept a plastic, inflexible and ugly future but can be perpetrators and contributors to what will be collected in the future.

As per usual I have regressed in this column to make a point.Whether one agrees or not it is something to think about. If it wereyour only doll and the only toy you had and it was crudely made of ragswould you not love it? It was made with love not just another commodityamongst many.