Postcards, Advertising and the Naked Lady

WARNING: FRENCH NUDE PHOTO AT end of this post. Get your momma to hold your hand or get your wife's permission if you have any doubts as to whether or not you are mature enough to see a photo of a beautiful naked woman:)

Did you miss me?!
I didn't blog Tuesday because I was too busy clowning around.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=33557640
Seriously, isn't this TOO adorable? I listed this scan in my shop yesterday. It's 19 clowns or technically, 9 Pierrots and 10 Columbines - those famous mime characters who have been over-acting on stages for decades.This particular classroom of petit French Pierrots is tres interesting. Each one so unique and expressive. Each one standing straight as a penquin except for that little guy in the front row who tilts to the left.
Anyway, along with clowning around, I was also doing some design work for a client. Do you mind if I toot my own horn for a bit:) One of Hood River's best bakers, Monica Halici is known as "The Tart Lady." She sells at the famous Portland Farmer's Market and has been featured in Victoria magazine. She appreciates the beauty of my postcards and we incorporate them into her advertising.
To keep the authentic touch, the back of her mailout features the Art Nouveau "Carte Postale" design.

I incorporated the love birds postcard into a business flyer she'll distribute downtown to put up in shop windows.
Here is a sample of the very first one I designed for her. The pink gilded border & the Paris pastry shop are both available in my Etsy shop.
I charge $18 an hour for my graphic design work, which is way below typical rates. So if you'd like a banner made for your Etsy shop, an ad created for your local newspaper or a flyer/postcard made for an advertising campaign, think of moi.

Using postcards as a marketing tool is not a new concept. During the Golden Age of Postcards, many businesses wanted to tap into that collecting craze. They distributed postcards with illustrations and photos that had nothing to do with their business. A shoe seller might distribute a card with an actress' photo on the front or a chocolate company might publish cards with scenes from popular fairy tales. Like the example above, this hold-to-light Eiffel Tower postcard is a very subtle advertisement for LU Biscuits. This particular postcard is for sale in my Ruby Lane shop; it dates to 1903 or earlier.
http://www.rubylane.com/shops/frenchkissed/item/6981
When you hold this postcard up to a light, you can see the words "Gaufrettes LU" above the Eiffel Tower and light rays shine from the LU Biscuits lamp tower on the right. The LU Biscuits company is still around - and so is their 107+ year old postcard! How's that for an ad that has staying power?
Postcards also did double-duty when they were utilized as menus as the examples above show. How's that for ingenuity and simplicity! In regard to the second menu, I can't comprehend why the publisher had the woman looking "off" the edge of the card instead of inward, but that can be fairly easily remedied thanks to Photoshop.
While most restaurants today have menus the size of novelettes, they could still take advantage of postcard advertising by printing the daily specials on a card and handing that out to their customers.

But I don't think any postcard campaign is going to be successful if you don't have eyecatching art. Something you'd want to keep. Something you'd want to hang on your fridge or post on your memo board. Unlike a newspaper ad that would be tomorrow's fish wrap or bird cage lining, postcards were something to be kept, collected and treasured because of the image. If the card wasn't preserved in an album, it might be tacked up on the wall. Hence, the beginning of "pin-ups" girls. I guess "tacky" girls didn't have the right ring to it, so they called them pin up girls:) Now, many people equate French postcards with nude postcards and I've just never been into collecting and/or selling them ... except for one and I love her, tack mark and all!
Sadly, I no longer have this original card. As I mentioned in one of my first posts, I loaned a handful of cards to a friend. En route to the post office, somewhere between the office and the car, the packett was lost. Absolutely just vanished into thin air. I'm not bitter but if I loan out any cards today, I ask for a pint of blood first:) The writing on this card is what made it one of a kind. The woman herself is a lush, curvaceous beauty. I think her pose is sexy and feminine. But the writing! Oh, I just knew I was in for a torrid romance as I set about translating the words written on her body. Down her neck, the sender penned: One good kiss from my mouth. And on her arm, [note the tack hole just left of the arm pit] he wrote (best as I can comprehend): For me, Love that makes me insane. And on the thigh, something about "souvenir of a woman ??? one true alpine." An alpine is the French equivalent of G.I.Joe, the foot soldier who was stationed in the Alps. Well, imagine my surprise when I flipped the card over and read the message on the back: Mon beau frere .... My beautiful brother!! Yes, the messages on the front were all tongue-in-cheek. The card was actually sent from one brother to another, a reminder to pick him and his wife up at the train station.
But the point is well made: if you want someone to remember something (your business, your arrival time), use a beautiful image to leave a lasting impression.

ENTRIES for photo caption contest (see Jan. 13 post) accepted through Thursday night!