Lotsa Hearts, Lotsa Flowers . . .

BIRTHDAY BOOK

The above cards are ones my brother in law made in the seventies/eighties. 

I have some of the these designs in his original cards, plus other cards of his.   

The name of his company was Birthday Book.

His first creation was a poster with all the dates in the year,

listing well known people and their birth dates.  

I can also claim possession of one of the first Birthday Book posters.

The poster and card company flourished.  "He made his mark"

in a card shop in NYC which was named,

Birthday Book.

His cards caught on with a passion and

the names of his clientele would be known by many of you.

 Phelps died in the late eighties. 

Some of his dreams died with him. 

This past summer

my daughter and I were reminiscing about 

"Uncle Phelps."

 

He was Scott and Sue's

flamboyant, creative, eccentric, generous, crazy fun uncle.

He brought tremendous joy to all of our lives. 

It was because of him that we each learned to

"step out of our box" and look, see, try.

We were introduced to "the city,"

 experienced 

theater, dance, music, diversity, 

city life, foods and fine dining.

Receiving a gift from Uncle Phelps was like no other.

Suzie liked bubble gum, she received a large box filled with gum, all colors.

Scott liked tube socks, he received one hundred socks, all colors plus white.

Each sock had a one dollar bill inside.

It was up to Scott to match things up.

We received crazy hats, clothing we would never wear,

books we didn't read at the time but now

we realize the wealth of each of those treasures.  

In his death,

we lost touch of his cards,

his posters, of Birthday Book.

As Suzie and I visited and reminisced,

we started looking to see if we could find evidence of his work.

Thus after several clicks and searches

we were able to locate his designs tucked in a

portfolio of a company he had also worked with.

Phelps would be giggling and smiling with joy

 to think that you were viewing some of his designs.

Memories are gifts

and they live on for always.

giving  receiving

surprise someone

this year

with a card

mention

 happy memories

remember 

LOVE