Handmade Easter Cards #NYPLRemix

 The New York Public Library Digital Collections feature prints, photographs, maps, manuscripts, streaming video and more. Many of the items are in the public domain and are free to use in art and crafts projects. I chose this 1895 menu cover from the Windsor Hotel for my Easter cards this year. 

Rare Book Division, The New York Public Library. "EASTER BREAKFAST [held by] WINDSOR HOTEL [at] "NEW YORK, NY" (HOTEL)" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1895. 

I cropped the image with PicMonkey photo editing software. I enhanced the colors and added the text "Happy Easter" to the print. I sized the image to print at 5" by 7". I then printed it on white cardstock and attached it to the front of a blank card.

I printed the image on a piece of brown kraft cardstock and used a rubber stamp to print the sentiment "Happy Easter" on the front. 

I used a HP Envy Photo 7800 Printer to print the images. I subscribe to the HP Instant Ink program so I can print up to 300 pages a month for $9.99 each month. This program works great for printing art and crafts projects.

I wish you a very blessed Easter. Thank you for visiting my blog. Please share your thoughts in the Comments Section below.

FREE U.S. Postal Service Antique Digital Image

The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing mail service in the U.S. It is one of the few government agencies explicitly authorized by the United States Constitution.  The USPS traces its roots to 1775 during the Second Continental Congress, where Benjamin Franklin was appointed the first postmaster general.

I found this antique image of a rural mail carrier driving a horse and buggy to deliver the mail. The farmer is reading a newspaper and the farm wife is receiving a letter. You can see the farm house in the background.

I think this drawing captures the importance of mail service to farmers in the early 1900s. I found this image in a book that has a copyright date of 1907. This book and image is now in the public domain so I would like to offer this drawing to you as a FREE download.

The image was scanned at 300 dpi and you should be able to easily print it out at 5" by 7" or any size smaller than this. This is a wonderful historical image for card making, scrap booking, altered art, collage, etc. You may also use the image on your blog or web site.

Please CLICK HERE to download the jpg. file.

I would like to know if you were able to download this file without any problems. Please share your thoughts in the Comments Section below.

Book Review; Scientific Advertising

Who was Claude C. Hopkins?

Claude C. Hopkins (1866-1932) was one of the great advertising pioneers, he believed advertising existed only to sell something and should be measurable and justify the results that it produced.
He worked for various advertisers, including Bissell Carpet Sweeper Company, Swift & Company and Dr. Shoop's patent medicine company. At the age of 41, he was hired by Albert Lasker owner of Lord & Thomas advertising in 1907 at a salary of $185,000 a year. Hopkins insisted copywriters researched their client products and produce reason-why copy. He believed that a good product was often its own best salesperson and as such he was a great believer in sampling.
Wowsers!  The average wage in the U.S. in 1907 was 22 Cents per hour.
The average U.S. worker made between $200 and $400 per year.
A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year.
A dentist made $2,500 per year.
A veterinarian between $1,500 per year.
A mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.

What is Scientific Advertising?

"Scientific Advertising" was written by Claude C. Hopkins in 1923 and is cited by many advertising and marketing personalities (such as David Ogilvy, Gary Halbert and Jay Abraham) as a "must-read" book.
In the book, Hopkins outlines an advertising approach based on testing and measuring. In this way losses from unsuccessful ads are kept to a safe level while gains from profitable ads are multiplied.

Here are some of my favorite quotations from this book;

One man may do business in a shed, another in a palace. That is immaterial. The great question is one’s power to get the maximum results.

Changing people’s habits is very expensive. A project which involves that must be seriously considered.

We must have a seeming advantage. People don’t quit habits without reason.

People will do much to cure trouble, but people in general will do little to prevent it.

An ad-writer, to have a chance of success, must gain full information on his subject.

We cannot go after thousands of men until we learn how to win one.

A man who desires to make an impression must stand out in some way ~ Doing admirable things in a different way gives one a great advantage.

 We are attracted by sunshine, beauty, happiness, health, success. Then point the way to them, not the way out of the opposite.

Scientific Advertising was written over 80 years ago and offers very practical information that can be used today.  If you are interested in advertising and copywriting, you must read this book!

I am offering a free ebook with the complete text of this book that was written in 1923.  CLICK HERE for your FREE copy of Scientific Advertising.  No forms or mail list sign-up.

Old Book Art

I recently discoverd a site that scans illustrations from old books and makes them available to the public for no charge.  Old Book Art is owned by an antique book dealer.  The purpose of this site is simply to share public domain resources. Zephyrus Books comes across a lot of antiquarian books with wonderful old illustrations in the public domain. Many of these are not available for public sharing anywhere on the internet, at least not in an easily accessible or larger scale format, so this site was started as a free resource for anyone looking for out of copyright images.
Are there restrictions on how these images may be used?  No, commercial or personal use for any purpose is perfectly fine. This site posts only public domain content and as such cannot put any restrictions on it.
I love illustrations from antique children's books.  This picture of the girl looking at the moon is an example of an illustration from this site.  WARNING:  Do not go to this site unless you have plenty of time to browse...you won't want to leave any time soon.

Vintage Printable

I love antique books.  I am especially fascinated with the illustrations in these old books.  I recently discovered a site named Vintage Printable.  The owner of this web states;
One of my hobbies is curating out-of-copyright scientific illustration, now that there are so many digital image databases on the web.
I’ve taken care to ensure that the images collected here are either pre-1922, or else works created on behalf of the US government. It is my belief that there are no copyright infringing works here, but if anyone thinks I’m mistaken, please send me an e mail and I’ll remove the image.

The Vintage Printable site has hundreds of photos, prints and illustrations that are now in the public domain.  The illustration above is from a children's book that was published in 1850.  I am especially thrilled to find antique pictures of children reading books.  This illustration could be used on a note card, book marker, etc. 

If you are interested in hunting for public domain treasures, The Vintage Printable site is a great place to begin.