3/6/09

When PIGS WERE BRAVE


Once upon a time, not so long ago, little kids loved Cowboys and Indians. A company could probably guarantee a sale of something by gearing it towards Cowboys and Indians. Pigs? Not so much. But maybe I'm wrong.

This card most likely dates from the 1950s. It was published by "Fravessi Lamont Inc." Other than that I know nothing. I purchased it in a stack of cards at the flea market, all to a boy named Ricky.

I always liked multi-purpose cards like this as a child. It's a card and a paper doll. And I would have loved the pig. And a pig with an Indian outfit? Whoa, that would have been a joyous surprise.

Fravessi front_tatteredandlost

fravessi interior_tatteredandlost

fravessi back_tatteredandlost
Click on images to see them larger.

Continuing with the Indian theme, here are a few other children's birthday cards. The one with the little girl making smoke signals has an actual feather on her headband still intact after over 50 years.

830B front_tatteredandlost

830B interior_tatteredandlost
No publisher name given for this card. Click on images to see them larger.

Forget-Me-Not front_tatteredandlost

Forget-Me-Not interior_tatteredandlost
Published by "A Forget-Me-Not Card" company. Click on images to see them larger.

UPDATE: Today I received the following comment and wanted to post it also as an update:
John Lamont said...
I can't tell anything about Fravessi, but Jean Lamont was my grandmother. She was a pretty talented water colorist. I have some of her work in the basement and alas, one of her best pieces was lost in the 9/11 attack (I had an office on the 59th floor and had her painting there.) Jean Lamont divorced and remarried Stanley Dell, who was a major translator of Carl Jung. They settled in Washington, CT, where she died around 1987.
Thank you John for adding this information. It's always so much fun to be able to expand on ephemera. I'm certainly sorry for the loss you suffered. Again, thank you.

UPDATE: From Anna Harding:
Fravessi comes from the first names of: Frances Duncombe, Vera Carlson and Agnes “Essie" Govett, who started the company in 1929. The company was later Fravessi-Lamont, then back to Fravessi (maybe in the late '80s). Fravessi was purchased by Olympia Sales Inc in 2002 and continues today as Fravessi and Fravessipaperstreet. Their retail site is olympiacardshop.com and they do carry vintage designs.
Thank you Anna! 

8 comments:

  1. Anonymous3/08/2009

    ohhh, a pig in Indian dress! I'm in hog heaven! (sorry, I couldn't resist)
    He's a jolly fellow. I really like the little rhymed message too.

    An Indian dance and good treats to eat.
    My birthday is complete!

    Dia

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  2. I knew you'd love it! He's a happy little fellow.

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  3. I can't tell anything about Fravessi, but Jean Lamont was my grandmother. She was a pretty talented water colorist. I have some of her work in the basement and alas, one of her best pieces was lost in the 9/11 attack (I had an office on the 59th floor and had her painting there.) Jean Lamont divorced and remarried Stanley Dell, who was a major translator of Carl Jung. They settled in Washington, CT, where she died around 1987.

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  4. John,

    Thank you so much for this information. I'm going to publish this also as an update to the post so it's searchable.

    This is why I love doing this blog. Connecting the pieces of ephemera. Thank you so much!

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  5. Fravessi comes from the first names of: Frances Duncombe, Vera Carlson and Agnes “Essie" Govett, who started the company in 1929. The company was later Fravessi-Lamont, then back to Fravessi (maybe in the late '80s). Fravessi was purchased by Olympia Sales Inc in 2002 and continues today as Fravessi and Fravessipaperstreet. Their retail site is olympiacardshop.com and they do carry vintage designs.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Anna! Very nice to hear about this. I'll post it as an update because this post still gets quite a few visits.

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  6. I found the original pig/Indian artwork today at Fravessi while digging in the archive room! There were about a dozen different animals all dressed up, as cards for kids. The artist was Jesse Spicer Zerner who went by the name "Peja". I put a pic of the gouache original and the first cutout on Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/119623934@N04/32567993581/in/dateposted-public/

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    Replies
    1. This is fantastic! So glad to hear the art was saved. So often it gets tossed. Any chance you'll be posting the other images?

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