Real Vintage Card Treasures For All Henries Attendees

In just over a week (October 3), the winners of The Henries will have been announced, with trophies being presented to the best greeting card ranges of our time.

However, as well as celebrating the UK industry’s current creative pre-eminence, The Henries will also be acknowledging its rich history.

To coincide with this year being the centenary of the GCA, headline sponsor of The Henries this year, the theme of the event will be ‘100 years of living history’.

Above: The lovely Henries ticket that was designed by Lucie Whitehead of The Art File and produced by Windles.

Adding to the continuing legacy of Britain as a card sending nation, everyone attending The Henries will be given their very own piece of greeting card history, in the form of an actual vintage card.

Thanks to sponsorship from Home Counties retail group, House of Cards, PG’s Jim Bullough has been scouring auction houses and bidding on ebay for pre-loved collections of greeting cards dating back over the last 100 years.

Above: PG’s Warren Lomax (left) and Jakki Brown looking through a few of the vintage cards with Geoff Sanderson who is curating the GCA’s 100th Anniversary exhibition that will debut at the association’s conference and AGM on October 17.

“As well as appreciating how design styles and production techniques have moved on, it is very poignant to read the messages written in the cards. You can’t help wondering about the people who sent and received the cards and what their lives and relationships were like,” said Jim who has now amassed an impressive collection of over 700 cards that will form the keepsake placecards at The Henries.

Adding further to the historic theme of the industry’s ‘big night’, attendees have the option to pick a decade between 1920s to the present day and dress accordingly. Props related to their chosen era will be added to the table to add to the fun, courtesy of House of Cards.

Among those to have pledged their era-allegiance are Woodmansterne, Dandelion Stationery, Glick, Skeet Print, Alpha Colour Printers, who are all going for the 1920s on their tables; the Pigment, LB Warehouse tables will be adopting the 1960s; Loxleys and GF Smith are going 1970s’ style while the Danilo gang has plumped for the 1990s.

There is still time to get your tickets to The Henries, and indeed select your era!

Above: Tom Allen is hosting The Henries.

If you have not booked your tickets for the ‘industry’s big night’ you can do so online via www.m ax-tickets.net or contact Clare Hollick, our awards manager on T: 01733 294524 M: 07769 905959 or via email: clare@createvents.co.uk

Vintage Valentine’s Cards Go Under The Hammer

A particularly impressive collection of Valentine’s and greeting cards up for auction on September 27 at Hansons’ auction house in (where PG’s Jakki Brown successfully bid for the world’s oldest Valentine’s Day cards, that dates back to 1790 (as reported on PGBuzz/.)

The soon-to-be-auction collection were gathered over a lifetime by Judith Howard, who worked at the V&A. Her collection of mourning jewellery is also included in the sale.