The Dilemma of Greeting Card Holidays

I don't know about you, but when I walked into the stores just prior to Christmas and saw displays being set up for Valentine's Day, I was just a little disturbed.  We'd not even laid Christmas to rest and a new holiday was being thrust upon us. It was overwhelming to think that I might have to add something else to my "holiday to do" list,  even though the holiday in question wasn't for another two months. To be honest, it depressed me a little.

On the one hand, there is my disgust. Evidence of corporate locomotion that barrels through one thing to the next for profit and very little regard for the spirit of the season. (I realize my naivety here, if they were interested in the spirit of the season, they'd probably not be selling mass-produced goods in large, very well lit stores). On the other hand is my guilt. These people were just doing their jobs, setting out the next batch of goods that we consumers have historically demanded. And by buying these items, we are providing job security to those very people who were the brunt of my initial scorn.

Still, I couldn't bring myself to buy any of the merchandise. Not out of any sort of ideology on my part. If there had been something of interest, I would've done my miniscule part as a consumer to bolster the job of the stock person. To be quite honest, it was all crap. There wasn't any evidence of thought toward design or product. It's as if it was designed with the landfill in mind. I felt like I'd been slapped in the face. Here I stood before the red, pink, and white displays in an attempt to be a good citizen, and all they could give me was made-in-china landfill fodder.

What happened to those cute and pithy designs from my childhood? Or the goofy handmade style designs from the earlier half of the 20th century? In fact, where was the design at all?

I know it's still rather early for most of us to be thinking of Valentine's Day - for those who think about it at all, but if you're going to go out and buy a card - why not just buy the stuff to make a card? Put the heart back into the holiday... or at least add a little character.  I'll be posting a few designs to help you, should you undertake this journey.  For now, enjoy some of these vintage Valentine cards. Just print them out onto card stock and cut them out. Hand them out to friends, strangers, the mailman...

Vintage Valentine Set