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Greetings Card

1960s-1970s (made)
Artist/Maker
Gordon Fraser Gallery Ltd. (publisher)
Wilson, Marion (Designer)
Place of origin
Great Britain (made)

This greeting card was designed in the 1960s or 1970s by Marion Wilson for the Gordon Fraser Gallery, a large British card company. The greeting inside reads ‘Love to Baby’. The card shows a baby wearing a christening gown, together with his or her proud parents, a crib, a teddy bear and a fluffy bunny - all traditional elements of cards for new babies. The background is a soft lilac colour, a blend of the pale pinks and blues associated with newborn babies. These conventions ensure that the card conforms to common notions of infancy and help the customer to distinguish it from other kinds of cards in the shop. The Victoria and Albert Museum holds the original artwork for this card.

Object details

Categories
Birth
Children & Childhood
Greeting Cards
Object type
Greetings card
Materials and techniques
Printed card
Card
Ink
Printing
Brief description
A card for a new baby designed by Marion Wilson and published by Gordon Fraser, 1960s-1970s
Physical description
A greeting card in landscape format with an illustration of a mother, father and baby, against a purple background. On the left the father holds the baby in the the air.The baby wears a long robe and the father wears a tall hat, crowned by a fluffy rabbit. The mother sits on the right, wearing a pink dress and holding a teddy bear. A crib is in the right foreground.
Dimensions
  • Folded height: 21.9cm
  • Folded width: 16.5cm
Dimensions when folded
Marks and inscriptions
  • MARION (1) Signature; Bottom left; Printing; Ink; Wilson)
  • Designed by Marion for the Gordon Fraser Gallery, Bedford / Printed in England / 50 GF 4325 / 200 (Printed; Ink)
  • Love to Baby (Inside the card; Printing; Ink)
Gallery label
This is part of a larger acquisition of material from the designer Marion Wilson, who worked for the Gordon Fraser greetings card company during the 1960s and 1970s. This card and original artwork have been chosen for inclusion in the Print Room 'education boxes.' These boxes contain objects linked by a particular topic and are aimed at school groups. They are advertised on the V&A website and include labels explaining how they relate to the topic in question.

The topic here was the design process, or how designers get from first idea to finished project. On the right is the original artwork, incorporating layers of paint, ballpoint pen and pen and ink. Although the effect is very painterly, there are certain clues which show that this is really a design for the mass produced card on the left. First, the image follows a formula. It has all the elements traditionally associated with new babies and the background is a soft lilac colour, a blend of the usual pale pinks and blues. These conventions are there to help the customer to distinguish it from other kinds of card in the shop. Second, there are some physical signs that the image has been transferred to print. For example, the centre marks on the mount, traces of adhesive tape, pinholes and stock codes on the reverse.
Credit line
Given by Marion Wilson
Subjects depicted
Family Life
Motherhood
Fatherhood
Kitsch
Birth
Children
Infants
Greeting
Rabbit
Cribs
Teddy Bears
Association
Fraser, Gordon
Summary
This greeting card was designed in the 1960s or 1970s by Marion Wilson for the Gordon Fraser Gallery, a large British card company. The greeting inside reads ‘Love to Baby’. The card shows a baby wearing a christening gown, together with his or her proud parents, a crib, a teddy bear and a fluffy bunny - all traditional elements of cards for new babies. The background is a soft lilac colour, a blend of the pale pinks and blues associated with newborn babies. These conventions ensure that the card conforms to common notions of infancy and help the customer to distinguish it from other kinds of cards in the shop. The Victoria and Albert Museum holds the original artwork for this card.
Associated object
E.950-2003
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
E.951-2003

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Record createdDecember 19, 2003
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O87878/greetings-card-wilson-marion/
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