Showing posts with label Free Printable. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Free Printable. Show all posts

Saturday, November 6, 2010

That Vintage Chanukah Feeling

I have a real problem this time of year. I admit it - I have Xmas envy.

It's a graphic design thing. I love all the cozy vintage imagery that seems to go along with the holiday.

There just isn't a lot of "vintage" in Chanukah, or Judaism in general for that matter. Jews in general seem to gravitate toward modern design, from what I can see. You don't see a lot of "shabby chic" Judaica - and don't think I haven't looked. Of course this is probably because the concept would be in direct opposition to the idea of Hiddur Mitzvah - although, I ask you, wouldn't cabbage roses enhance any mitzvah?

Every year I scour the web by searching for "vintage Jewish" to see if anything turns up and there is precious little out there. I have found some vintage illustration - mostly early Zionist posters - and this great collection of Rosh Hashana cards. In fact, Rosh Hashana cards seem to be the only place I can find that Victorian style of overly precious, slightly demented illustration that I enjoy and KosherCook loathes so much (so much that I made him a Valentine's Day card last year that bore the disclaimer "This card was made with a refreshing lack of Victorian imagery. No Cupids were harmed in the making of this card"). You can read a little about the history of these cards here. In fact I was delighted by the discovery of these antique cards because KosherCook has been arguing for years that Victoriana is inherently non-Jewish - because he had only seen it for Christmas and Valentine's Day decorations. But, if I remember correctly, it was actually the same German cardmakers that made Valentines that produced these high holiday cards.

In any case, Xmas gets that vintage look and Chanukah doesn't.
 
I also object to being locked into the whole blue, white, silver and gold color scheme, which is ironic as you will see in a moment. 

Download Your Free Hanukkah Card!
Anyway, I decided if there was no such thing as Vintage Hanukkah I would create it myself. So I set out to make a vintage Hanukkah card that all you nice people could download for free, print out and send to your friends. Which I did. And you can. And guess what color it is? That's right - blue and gold.

Perhaps the next one will have lots of demented-looking Victorian children on it (or as KosherCop calls them, "Aaah! Scary babies!")

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