A Timeless Collection Inspired by Historic Artwork

The archives at Unity Village contains a treasure trove of magazines, booklets, and artwork from decades past. During a recent visit, a Unity product designer uncovered a unique source of inspiration—vintage visual designs from the 1910s and 1920s. The result? A new collection of greeting cards that artfully blend historic imagery with timeless affirmations. Jolene Clark, the archives manager, provides insights into how these historical pieces influenced the creation of this beautiful collection.

Vintage-Style Greeting Cards

The inspiration for a new line of vintage-style greeting cards came from 1910s- and 1920s-era calendars, booklets, and magazines found in the archives at Unity Village. The roaring twenties was a decade of rapid economic growth as well as social change. During that time, Unity embraced new technologies in radio, telephones, automobiles, and printing. Early Unity publications were in black and white, but by the early 1900s technology allowed some color to be added. Color printing was more expensive and complicated, but Unity was able to create beautiful, printed materials that have been preserved in the archives.

The design for the thank-you card came from the cover of an inspirational series of booklets that Unity published in the 1920s. The collection of writings was “prepared to answer the call of practical, everyday needs.” Morning Meditations by Jennie H. Croft was designed to develop a habit of morning meditation by practicing each day for 30 days. By so doing you would determine your happiness and success for that day and create a habit. Good Words by Imelda Octavia Shanklin built upon the idea of starting the day off right with morning meditation, so you could then easily guard the thoughts and words of the day. Although the quote on the card was not originally found in the booklets, it fits perfectly with the image. “Nothing but light can put out the darkness” came from Myrtle Fillmore’s book titled Wee Wisdom’s Way. She continued that “our true thoughts and words were the rays that went out from us and put out the darkness.” The cards allow you to write and send your own rays and pillars of lights to those around you.

Three of the vintage cards were inspired by 1920s Unity calendars. Each calendar had a different theme for the year with monthly quotes. The advertisement for the 1921 calendar declared that you could have health and prosperity thoughts looking you right in the face every day of the year. The blue leaf pattern from that calendar was used for one of the cards in the set. The building on the matching envelope was part of the calendar design too. The birthday card was inspired by the 1926 Myrtle Fillmore Calendar. The quotes from Myrtle furnished a wealth of material and study throughout the year. It was proclaimed an artistic achievement in beauty of color using four colors. Readers were advised to purchase early before the supply ran out. The last card of the set with the angel came from the 1928 Unity calendar designed by Rickert Fillmore. The calendar was proclaimed as one of the most artistic we ever had. The quotations for the year came from the book Divine Remedies, a textbook on healing. This card is a perfect place to write your own healing words and send them to others.

The original publications as well as the new card set were purposefully created as a guide and source of inspiration. At first glance you would think the cards were originally created as they look today, but the 100-year-old designs have come alive in a new way. The old and the new blend together perfectly to create a beautiful set of vintage cards.

Order the new greeting card set.