Vintage images for Father's Day

Searching for masculine vintage images to use on Father's Day cards or projects, I was surprised to discover that most ads in my vintage magazines were directed at women.  The bicycle, boat and electric train ads below were exceptions.  My favorite "Father" images are these, from a 1937 reader called "At Work and Play."

Ads below are from an 1897 edition of The Cosmopolitan magazine.

If you make a Father's Day card using any of these images, please send us a link or a photo!  Happy Father's Day.

Vintage ad cards

Vintage ad cards are fun ephemera finds.  They're usually colorful and have interesting content that reflects the era in which they were published.

This ad for Quaker sugar (who knew Quaker produced sugar at one time?) reminds me of early readers that featured Dick and Jane and Spot, their dog.  The "Dick and Jane" readers were first printed in the 1930s by textbook publisher Scott Foresman. The sugar packaging includes a copyright date of 1930, further evidence of the age of the ad. Despite torn corners and frayed edges, the colors on the original ad really are this bright; I didn't do any color enhancements.  That means the ad card spent a long time tucked into a book before it appeared at my favorite flea market.

This Carter's Ink ad card also dates to the 1930s.  In 1936, Carter's sold ink stands for the cube-shaped ink containers, so the containers of this shape had to have been produced prior to 1936.  Earlier Carter's ink bottles were round and the earliest had cork stoppers, so these cubes were the height of modern at the time! A previous owner of this ad card was so proud of it, he wrote his name on it in ink.  I left it instead of cloning it out; if anyone wants the ad without the signature, I'll be glad to edit it and send it to you.

The third vintage card advertises wagons made by Ballantine & Van Fleets, a carriage company in Somerville, NJ, in the late 1800s.  The language is funny, isn't it?  "Do you want a wagon of any kind -- If so --"  I love the quaint school clothes the boy is wearing.  How times have changed!

Hope you are enjoying these vintage goodies!  I'd love to hear from you in the Comments.

Red Bird Notebook

Today's ephemera download is the cover of The Red Bird pocket notebook from the 1930s. I love the typography, don't you?  

This little notebook was well-used.  The front pages were filled with math problems and geography homework, and back pages included grocery lists.  I'm thinking the student married just after high school and continued using her school notebook for household tasks after schoolwork was behind her.

I'm old enough to remember Blue Horse school tablets, but Red Bird books were before my time.

When I posted this on my Flickr site, I got the most interesting comment:


"Thanks so much for posting this picture! I'm researching Eudora Welty for my Master's Thesis and she references "Redbird school tablets" in her short story "Lily Daw and the Three Ladies." I had little reference to what a school tablet from the 1930s looked like, much less a Redbird school tablet. Now I can see it so I know what Ms. Welty was referencing - I'm so glad I found your photo!"


Ephemera is not just fun to look at and nice to use in art projects; it can also give us a unique perspective on history!