My mother-in-law is amazing at keeping childhood treasures — we have everything from my husband’s toy car collection to original copies of his favorite children’s books — and we treasure this vintage ephemera so.
I love that these old toys and books are just as beautiful and appropriate now as they were back then, because childhood is truly timeless. Sometimes I wonder if these books will still be around when my kids have children of their own. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? Which is why, while we definitely hang onto these old toys and books, I simply cannot imagine tearing out the pages to make crafts and decorations. I’ll admit it’s very tempting, but I could never, ever do it — in part because I don’t have to. (Thank you, technology!)
For instance, Uncommon ARTicles offers a digital scan of some of the sweetest vintage alphabet flash cards I have seen. Once you pay for the images, you can use them however you wish: as scrapbook pages, party invitations, or simply as actual flash cards or room decor to teach your kids their ABCs.
UPDATE: The above shop is no longer in existence. However you can find them through Digital Flea Market on Etsy.
This is a fantastic shop! I love typography and good illustrations, I am going to visit the shop right now! Thanks! Best regards from Barna, Marta
Hi there-I’m actually the owner of Uncommon ARTicles on Etsy, and wanted to make sure that you knew that, yes, you can indeed buy these online again at my new store La Luna Rossa here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/193720239/3-sheets-of-vintage-illustrated?ref=shop_home_feat_1
Thank you Andrea!
The only thing that upsets me more than vintage items torn apart for crafting is when today’s bloggers, etsy people, and such profit from what was free for personal use. These ABC cards and many more images that I have seen selling for way too much were offered years ago free-of-charge on various blogs, during a time when scanning and uploading were not as easy as they are today. One blogger shared her mother’s vast collection of saved cards from when her mother was a war bride. I was outraged to see someone selling these images that this woman so generously shared. I know, copyright law, licensing, blah, blah, blah, but if someone generously gifts you an item, even though they gifted it to you, wouldn’t you feel some shame, have some sort of conscience, if you decided to sell it for pocket change? Seriously!
My son feels I would be great at having my own blog and sharing my own vast collection of materials from my teaching career and my years of working with those with/those dealing with Alzheimer-Dementia, my multitude of crafting on the cheap, and the many vintage images I have downloaded and saved over the years.
But with all the scavengers and vultures out there, there is no honor, and I would be really pissed to find out people who really do not have a budget were tricked into purchasing what they could have gotten for free from my blog.
So sad. If I had the time, I would go through etsy and other such sites and slam each and every one of them for not referencing the blog they stole the images from, licensing, copyrights, blah blah, blah- baloney!
Susie,
I am the creator of this print, and I can assure you NONE of the images were “stolen”. I am an avid collector of vintage childrens books, and these images came from an antique alphabet book. I still have the pages tucked away in my studio. I don’t appreciate your negative comments in implying that my work was born out of greed or dishonesty.
Andrea
I’m with you Andrea, and I’m sorry I never caught the negative comment above yours from several months ago. I’d no sooner condemn a vintage shop or decoupage artist or vintage photograph stall at a street fair for “stealing” or “profiting” off of found items. Good lord. The work you do is fantastic and we’re thrilled to support it any time.
Liz