Betsey Clark Doll House Card – Hallmark copyright 1975
I have a new camera. It is a Sony Cybershot DSC-W830 and so far it has been amazing. All the photos in this post were taken with it on an overcast, rainy day in June. No artificial lights were used and I haven’t ‘tweaked’ the photos in any way . I have simply cut out the bits that I wanted and, on my computer screen at least, the soft, pearly-grey light in the pictures exactly captures the daylight as it was on the day I took the photos .
If anyone is interested in the electronic wizardry that made this possible, the technical specifications are available (like the camera itself) on Amazon.
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I am now going to do something mildly naughty. The following cards were produced by companies that are still in business and, as they are copyright to those companies, I suspect that I should not have uploaded any sort of copy of them here.
Betsey Clark Doll House Card – Hallmark – folded size, when detached from the header and with figures removed for use, 8 1/2 x 6 1/2 inches (21 x 16.6 cm)
I have had this card for a long time, but I knew nothing about Betsey Clark until very recently when I did some research on the internet and came across this site: The Betsey Zone
This is the only information that I have been able to find about her on-line, which surprised me as she was evidently well known enough to have her name prominently featured on a card that she had designed.
My particular card was bought in Britain and it seems to vary slightly from the American version in that it is a ‘Doll House Card’ and not a ‘Party Favor Card’.
I only know about this difference because, at the time of typing this there, are a several of these cards for sale on eBay in the US. Apart from the description on the header card they all look identical to mine. (The price of $1.50 is printed on the US header cards.)
I remember this style of illustration so clearly that, when I recently came across this card again, I was staggered that it is now over 40 years old.
As old as the card is, Hallmark is still in business and the copyright is still in place. This brings me to the mildly naughty part and so, before I go any further, I had better make the following clear:
I do not make, and have never made, a miniature version of this card for profit.
If you would like to make my version of this design, please remember that it is intended for your personal enjoyment only and that is not intended for re-sale, in any way shape or form.
That said, please read on –
I have not attempted to reproduce the complete card here. There are only three characters, plus the table. And, at 1 1/4 inches (3.2 cm) tall, it is slightly larger than 12th scale. The image in the pdf is a high resolution one and so, if you would like to make a smaller version, it might be possible to re-size the image without too much loss of detail. Trying to make it much bigger will be a waste of time.
If you do make one of these for yourself, please be aware that the card, paper, ink and printer used will affect the result you get.
I have an elderly Canon Pixmar inkjet printer and I used:
- Thin, white card (140gsm) – card with a smooth surface is best
- Water based glue (and a paintbrush)
- A sharp knife
- A sharp pair of scissors
- A ruler
- A blunt kitchen knife for scoring the fold line
You do need card that takes printer ink nicely, without blurring or bleeding.
To make the card:
You will need the pdf
(You don’t need to download the pdf to your computer, you should be able to print it from the screen.)
On the pdf:
The blue lines show where a line should be scored
The red lines show where straight cuts should be made – (there are no red lines around the figures, or under the table)
I allowed the print to dry for at least 10 minutes, as scoring or cutting even slightly damp card can result in a damaged surface or a ragged edge.
I then scored the fold lines across the room setting, as indicated by the blue lines.
Then I cut out the card, as indicated by the red lines – Initially, when I tried to do this without the red lines, I struggled to see where the pale edge disappeared into white background.
The original card folds up in a zig-zag fashion, but if you would like to do something different, there is no reason why you shouldn’t (see photos below).
I folded the table, so that it stood out from the wall, and then stuck it in place over the figure standing on the stool – there are guidelines printed on the wall and these need to be just hidden by the table.
If you would like to be true to the original design, the table slots into the wall with tabs. It will, inevitably, not stand up straight without a great deal of coaxing. I have never found a folded paper table that stood straight the first time round.
The figures are small. I didn’t score the fold points in the support strip that is supposed to make them stand upright because I didn’t want to weaken, or damage it.
I cut the lines around the strip using a ruler and knife; then I used scissors to cut out the characters, and only then did I ‘Z Fold’ the strip .
As, I have said before, the thing that annoys me about full-size paper dolls is that they fall over very easily.
Putting a ‘Z Fold’ in the support does make them more stable. But I wanted these to be really VERY stable and so I used a tiny amount of glue and attached them to the walls of the room.
I applied the glue only along the surface indicated by the green line, in the photo above.
If you fix the figures to the walls by their support strips, and are careful about where you place them, it is possible to make a card that folds up with the figures inside.
The way the card is folded and where the figures are positioned can make a big difference to the overall appearance.
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Just in case I have given everyone the idea that everything in the 1970s was all in the Betsey Clark style, there is another card below which dates from the same era. This one was produced by the Medici Press, in the UK. As well as having the figures to cut out and room setting, it has a very brief story inside.
Inside the card, the pictures and story are both credited to Nicola Pindar. She is not listed on the Medici website of current artists and I have not contacted the various Nicola Pindars who I have found on-line, to ask if this is their early work.
Size, when folded, 9 1/2 x 7 inches (24 x 17.67 cm)
Back of card
The Medici Press still produce a vast number of high quality cards, including vintage designs by Molly Brett, Racey Helps and Margaret Tarrant. This type of card is rather out of their usual range today, but it is a classic example of the colours and design style that were widely used (in the UK at least) in the early to mid 1970’s.
Finally, many thanks to everyone who voted in last week’s poll. Your answers are very helpful. I am told that the polls (and certain other things) do not work in the Firefox browser. I am sorry about this; unfortunately it is not something that I can do anything about.
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I must stop now and go and do some work. But before I go, one last picture:
