selling Valentines in 1942

found this article, from 1942, 

addressed to greeting card dealers 

from Rust Craft cards and as the heart says it's

 "TRIED and TRUE TIPS

 to INCREASE your 

VALENTINE CARD SALES"

the greeting card industry worked to teach the public the 

etiquette of properly exchanging cards. 

" Be sure to use rack signs to attract 

your customers' attention to the

 fact that these are Valentine cards,

 or some of them may take it for

 granted that all cards on 

display are Everydays. 

This sounds like superfluous advise,

 but there are 

many people who are not 'CARD WISE' "

1942 ad for store or window banner
 (you can see one hanging in the window display photo, below) 

"When Sweetheart, Wife or

 Husband Valentines 

are being bought, 

suggest that a

 humorous one, 

as well as a serious one,

 be sent"

"A great many dealers do not separate 

Humorous and General Valentines

 but mix them in together 

and claim greater sales."

"Put 'em in the window to get results."

"Show unusual titles in your window display"
"Special titles, more than any others should be displayed in your window as near the front as possible,
for regular merchandise sells of its own accord, but special titles are oftimes unknown.  If correctly displayed, you will sell more."

Emphasize in every way possible

 the growth in popularity of Valentines

 and the fact that it is

 a day for Sweethearts 

and

 for 'joshing' our friends.

The general use of Valentines

 have grown steadily, 

and the increase in the sale 

of higher priced cards 

is very noticeable."

https://www.bonanza.com/booths/vintagerecycling

she sent back blue!

FROM A "BELLE" WHO LOVES YOU

If to me you will be true, 
Send me back my bow of blue.

If of me you sometimes think, 
Send me back my bow of pink.

If to me you will unite, 
Send me back my bow of white.

If you are another's beau, 
Send me back my bow like this. 

If to me your love is dead,
 Send me back my bow of red.  

September 1914

My dear friend Agnes, 
Hoping that you'll not take any offence and
 that I may expect an answer
I am Lovingly Yours, 
George E Duff

this 100 year old card is nearly as charming as 

the personal message of love on the backside

http://www.etsy.com/shop/vintagerecycling

vintage Holly Hobbie home spun Americana ~American Greeting Cards

vintage HH plaque ~ "Happiness is meant to be shared"

I have always been an avid Holly Hobbie fan....what little girl raised in the 70s wasn't?!
The nostalgic country rag doll in her patchwork dress and blue bonnet....with braids (my sweet mother replaced the braids on mine countless times!) I lugged my beloved Holly Hobbie doll EVERYWHERE...... at three she was lifesized to me!:)

Holly Hobbie.....she is named for her creator.... a housewife and art school graduate, who in the 1960s, sent her sketches to American Greetings in hopes of making some extra money..... what a lucky day for American Greetings!:)


this card for Mother is really adorable...embossing details.... this copyright 1981 Holly Hobbie card shows Holly and her friend quilting, they're having a conversation......"Ever wonder what you want to be when you grow up?"
"sure, doesn't everybody?"
"Know what I wanna be?"
"A ballerina?"
"No. An artist and a teacher and a doctor and a cook and a..."
"Silly! Nobody can be all those things!"
"Mom is."
inside........"Thanks, Mom, for being everything to me."Holly Hobbie's work is known for being nostalgic and sweet~ evoking simpler times....days gone by....early America........ her work started with her sending her sketches into American Greetings and grew into a huge empire. In the 1970s girls would even dress as Holly Hobbie and have contests! My childhood is filled with memories of Holly Hobbie toys, cards, I even had a Holly Hobbie purse which I once left in a restaurant and my father rushed me back to so I could frantically look for it! (yes, I found it:) ).....

here's another pretty example, copyright 1981........ die-cut scalloped edge and embossing details....."A Mother's Special Love"
the back reads, "Holly Hobbie designed by Holly Hobbie .......with every delightful stroke of her brush, Holly Hobbie the artist invites you to enter a world lovingly created from her heart to your heart~ a world which will live forever in every act of kindness shared..."

this sweet Mother's Day card for Sister is copyright 1981 American Greetings, although made the same year, there is no barcode. Embossed details.... "Just for You Sister" ......"Thinking of you and thinking, too, what a wonderful sister you are! Happy Mother's Day"marked American Greetings, Holly HobbieCopyright American Greetings Corp MCMLXXXI

these are some specialty envelopes for Holly Hobbie cards...... as you can see, the white envelope has the American Greetings flower logo embossed ........the pastel pink and green envelopes have embossed flowers, hearts and Holly's trademark "HH" and a pretty scalloped edge.