Cards

2004 La Fontaine Playing Card Collection. Art by Dante Moglisi. Turin: Lo Scarabeo. €10 at Variantes, Paris, Dec., '04. Two extra copies. "54 cards dedicated to some of the most famous tales." The 54 full-color illustrations here are small but delightful. Variantes was a store I came to love for its various puzzles and games. These cards were a great find on my way to Africa, when I wisely took an overnight in Paris along the way.Click on a card to see a larger version of it.

1970? Two individual playing cards showing FG on the backs. One image is entirely in black and red; the other is in black and blue with a red stripe around the outside. $8 from Dany Wolfs, Roesalare, Belgium, August, '00. Actually the FG image in the blue card is reduced to include the red stripe inside the white margin, which occupies the same space as on the red card. The only identifying mark is "Grapes" on the 4 of spades on the red card. The blue card is the 2 of clubs. If I keep this up, will I be able to put together a whole deck of individual cards with different fable images?

1950? Two decks of playing cards showing FG and CP, respectively, on their backs. The fox is as above in the three-deck Canasta set. For CP, against a tan background, a black crow stands over a white pitcher. A banner in white and blue-gray proclaims the title underneath the scene. In the sturdy original 3¾" 5" slipcase. Cel-U-Tone Finish. Congress Playing Cards. $6 from Harry Glogower, New York, NY, through Ebay, June, '00. The style and artistry of the two cards make them a nice complement to each other. I am especially pleased that someone had sense enough to put two fables together in one set.

1990? The Fox and the Grapes: An Aesop Fable. A Scherenschnitte design cut from a single sheet of paper and painted in water colors by Claudia Hopf. Five cards boxed, with envelopes. Beverly, MA: American Folklore: Kristin Elliott Inc. Gift of Margaret Carlson Lytton, from the Amy Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum in Williamsburg, 1994.

1982? "The Fox & the Crane" by Walter Crane from Baby's Own Aesop (1887). Notecard with envelope from the Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress. Three extras.

1980? Arthur Rackham TH greeting card. 5" x 7". La Jolla, CA: Green Tiger Press. Gift of Ann Findley at Meandaur, June, '93. Here is the delightful scene showing not only the tortoise and hare but others who witnessed the bet. There is no message inside the card. The publishing information on the back indicates that the same illustration is available as a postcard. Here the image is pasted onto the front of a simple card.

2020 LM greeting card. Copyright Phoebe Goodchild 2020. Quincy prints. $3.92 through Etsy, Nov., '24. The image on its own tells a tale of friendship in the midst of the natural world. There is no smiling here, but there is peaceful coexistence.

2020 Gratitude greeting card. "The grateful heart will always find opportunities to show its gratitude. Aesop." Sketches from "The Fabled Life of Aesop" by Pamela Zagarenski. No. 538. Signed by the senders, Paul and Ianthe Swensen, Dec., '21. The scenes on the front and back of the card connect. Did the woman get the grapes for the fox?

2004? Greeting card "Aesop's Fables," about 6" x 4". The front cover shows three picture cards and one text verso; the back cover shows two text versos and one "Sweet Afton" Virginia Cigarettes advertisement. Produced by the Antique Map & Print Gallery, April Cottage, UK. $1.88 from Jackie Daniels, Peterborough, UK, through eBay, Oct., '05. Nine extra copies at the same time for the same price. The eBay advertisement for this item read "Cigarette Card Greeting Card." The irony is that the pictures and texts here were all taken from Typhoo Tea cards! The printing around the colorful picture ovals has been carefully removed. The card acknowledges The Antique Map & Print Gallery in Worcester, England. Perhaps the gallery had already removed the print.

1998? "Congratulations" portrait-formatted greeting card. The front shows a sweating hare trying to catch up to a running tortoise and says "Congratulations." Inside reads "You've really pulled ahead!" ©Karen Lyn Morse. Printed in U.S.A. Animal Crackers. Boulder, CO: Blue Mountain Arts. Gift, June, '99. The eyes and the drops of sweat make this anxious rabbit distinctive. The tortoise, who has a great smile, reaches out with both arms, presumably for the finish line.

1992 Landscape photograph greeting card. The front shows a turtle and a hare looking out at the viewer. Opened up, the card reads "Your pace or mine?" Photograph ©1992 Rick Dublin, "Tortoise and Hare." ©1992 Palm Press, Berkeley CA. The look on each character's face helps to make this card's impression. The jump from the story's competition to the card's invitation is also a strong category leap!

1990 Landscape colored painting greeting card. The front shows a dressed female hare riding supine and perhaps asleep on a large tortoise. Above them is written "Enjoy the slow times, they are a gift." Blank inside. Paris Bottman. Lithographed in USA. Salt Lake City, UT: Bottman Design 125 30132. Gift, '94. Even if it is a run-on sentence with a comma splice, it is a wonderful sentiment! The languid posture of the hare is perfect for this scene and message.