 DecoramabyLaine Farley
As a child, one of my favorite movies was The Wizard of Oz. I seem to recall that it was broadcast around Easter and I associate the fantastic flowers in the munchkin village and the field of poppies with spring. The Emerald City architecture also captivated me as being mysterious, modern and “moderne.” Now I see echoes of the leaves, flowers and swirls in that distinctive green as I walk around the neighborhood near my office. Downtown Oakland flourished in the 1920s-1940s, leaving a wonderful legacy of Art Deco architecture. I am privileged to see the recently restored Fox Theatre and gaze at the marquis of the supremely Art Deco Paramount Theatre every day. The I. Magnin building across from my office and the Breuner building down the street sport different shades of Deco green in their distinctive tile work. It’s no wonder that I’m drawn to bookmarks with deco designs. A special favorite is a category I have dubbed “windowpane” featuring a cut out design, usually with a satin ribbon threaded behind it, and often decorated with distinctive deco flowers. When I first saw this type of bookmark, I thought it would be easy to discover the maker since they are so attractive and unusual. It has taken a very long time, however, to identify them and it is only by association with similar designs on greeting cards or other paper ephemera that I can claim to know the likely publishers. According to Anne Stewart O’Donnell in her article “Greetings from the 20th Century: or how the arts & crafts movement helped launch a billion-dollar worldwide industry” in Style 1900, v16, n.4 , 2003, the greeting card with actual text in addition to a picture was born around the turn of the twentieth century. Cards during the first ten to twenty years of the 1900s moved from the ornate and fussy Victorian style into the still decorative but simpler style of the arts and crafts movement. Mottos and poems with friendly messages reflected the values of simplicity and domesticity. Rust Craft was a leader in developing these types of greeting cards and other ephemera such as bookmarks. The design style that later became known as Art Deco began to emerge during the early 1900s with the 1925 Paris Exposition des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes being the defining moment for introducing the style into every aspect of design. In the book Affordable Art Deco Graphics, Susan Warshaw Berman calls the style multi-cultural with design elements of “lightning bolts, ziggurats, stepped-up designs, light rays and circles” as well as “stylized flowers, the slim, naked women, the streamlined cars, and the use of striking geometric and curvilinear designs” being typical. Typography also changed with the introduction of sans serif styles. Although her book has many illustrations of other ephemera of the period such as bridge tallies (especially popular), place cards, playing cards and greeting cards, no bookmarks are among them. There are similar themes and designs, however, and by studying these examples, I began to associate bookmarks with several publishers including Rust Craft, Buzza and Volland. The one design element that appears on almost every bookmark is what I call the Deco flower—usually an open flower with a roundish shape, sometimes with petal details and often stylized into an abstract or fantastic style rather than a realistic depiction. The windowpane bookmarks I have where a publisher is identified are all by Rust Craft and have these distinctive flowers. In this article, I will focus on windowpane bookmarks not related to a particular seasonal theme such as Christmas or Valentine’s, of which I have many. Rather, I will highlight those that commemorate birthdays, provide get well or other general good wishes. The woman reading a book above is a perfect example of the deco flower, appearing modestly in the lower border and then exaggerated into her skirt. The stylized butterflies are another typical motif, and the effect is completed with a moiré ribbon threaded through the back.
The graduation bookmark is a special favorite because it incorporates a book into the windowpane effect. This example is in excellent condition with its ribbon intact and has a decorative die-cut border.
Three birthday bookmarks use motifs of flowers, birds and butterflies with different windowpane effects. The parrot, with a handwritten date of 1926 on the reverse, is the most clever use of the windowpane with a cord rather than a ribbon behind the colorful parrot. Its deco flowers are embossed and detailed. Similar flowers are the featured element in another bookmark with the same verse, dated 1927 so these two are possibly by the same publisher. The delicate ribbon has almost disappeared behind it, however. The third example used a simpler windowpane effect with more stylized deco flowers and bird. There are similarities with this birthday greeting card, identified as being published by Buzza in 1926. The gold metallic ornamentation on all three must have added a special touch although now they have all tarnished, giving a dull impression.
Two examples of “get well” or “cheer up” bookmarks display contrasting styles. The “Get Well Soon” marker has simplified flowers with a ribbon knotted through the card, rather than creating a full windowpane effect behind the dark window. The exuberant “Cheer Up!” example has a lovely die-cut butterfly with similarly colorful flowers and a ribbon behind the delicate cut-out of a flower bell.
The last two examples are not quite windowpane styles but illustrate other uses of a ribbon on the bookmark. The little girl is especially novel with her ribbon sash and even though she is wearing an antebellum outfit, the deco flowers adorn her skirt and hair. She came with an envelope to further provide a greeting card effect. This pairing of antebellum costume with the deco sensibility is one I have seen often but can’t quite understand since these styles seem worlds apart. The bookmark titled “Volumes of Kind Thoughts” has only a ribbon tassel knotted through the bottom, although it could have cut out the literal windowpane and threaded the ribbon behind it. I suspect this example is later in the period, maybe the 1940s based on the comfy armchair and bright curtains. Again, its ties to the period are reflected in the flower designs but it has a much more sedate feel than the lady with a book, another indicator that it may be a later design. It has a line on the back with “From” to provide an acknowledgement for the sender. Ernest Dudley Chase in the classic work, The Romance of Greeting Cards, p. 166 notes: “Bookmarks with a friendly greeting and ‘best wishes’ used to be especially popular as reminders. Most of them had a ribbon, or cord and tassel, run through the card, making them colorful and attractive. The sentiments were written in a friendly style and incorporated the idea of retaining the bookmark and using it, letting it become a constant reminder of friendship and kindly thoughts. Not many bookmarks are issued today.” He was wrong about the popularity of bookmarks but it is true that more recent examples of bookmarks as greeting cards can’t rival the lovely combinations of style and sentiment of the Art Deco era. Bookmark specifications: May this little book-mark, Be just what you need… Bookmark specifications: A Book Mark for the Graduate Bookmark specifications: To mark my birthday greetings… [parrot] Bookmark specifications: To mark my birthday greetings… [flowers] Bookmark specifications: Birthday Greeting Bookmark specifications: Cheer Up! Bookmark specifications: Get Well Soon Bookmark specifications: When the stern voice of Duty calls… Bookmark specifications: Volumes of Kind Thoughts
Laine Farley is a digital librarian who misses being around the look, feel and smell of real books. Her collection of over 3,000 bookmarks began with a serendipitous find while reviewing books donated to the library. Fortunately, her complementary collection of articles and books about bookmarks provides an excuse for her to get back to libraries and try her hand at writing about bookmarks. Contact Laine.
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