Studio Greeting Cards — The Peculiar Manicule

Studio Greeting Cards ☜

Here are some highlights from my growing collection of vintage “studio” greeting cards. I love the wild, fad-driven graphics and unique hand-lettering on these classic 1960s and 70s 4” x 9” cards. Many of them flaunt extravagant embellishments like die-cuts, embossing, thermography (raised inks), glitter, glued-in novelties, and more—features that were likely quite innovative in offset printing at the time. While the humor is dated (and occasionally cringe-worthy), I’m including the inside punchlines to showcase the lettering. As is typical with Hallmark, American Greetings, and similar studios, the illustrators and designers are uncredited, although several examples by a young Robert Crumb stand out as recognizable.