Arizona-themed vintage valentines are more than kitschy keepsakes, according to cultural historian and longtime ephemera collector Lisa Sutton. “They’re snapshots of how people saw the Southwest in the early 20th century,” Sutton says. She likes how Arizona, which achieved statehood on Valentine’s Day in 1912, is depicted in these old-timey greeting cards as a state covered in cute cactus and populated by pop-eyed kids dressed as cowpokes.
Boop-Oop-a-Doop
Many valentines from the 1930s, Sutton says, “have a Fleischeresque quality to them.” She’s referring to pioneering American animator Max Fleischer, who created Popeye the Sailor Man and Betty Boop, among others. “There are a lot of references to Kewpie dolls and Boop cartoons, with the big eyes and the childlike qualities.”
Archetype Art
A lot of the Southwestern-themed valentines Sutton sees use a kind of artist’s shorthand to tell a story. “The idea back then was a drawing of a donkey wearing a sombrero and sitting by a cactus could only mean one thing: ‘I’m in Arizona!’”
Before There was Woke
Times have changed, Sutton says. Fifty years ago and more, “it wasn’t considered offensive to depict people in stereotypically racist ways. But there’s also an innocence to some of these. Like, this one is really just a guy wearing a sombrero and saying, ‘Yes,’ in his native tongue. But our collective mentality has changed. When I look at this drawing, all I think is, ‘Why is he hugging a cactus?
That must hurt!’”
“The Good Old Days”
Sutton says that the trend in valentines depicting children doing adult things (like firing a six-shooter or lassoing a romantic partner) has probably passed. “But you have to remember that these were cards being made for kids, so it wasn’t inappropriate or sending a weird message to see a child flying a plane or whatever.” OK, then.
What Ted Said
Arizona artist Ettore “Ted” DeGrazia’s valentine designs don’t depict bright red, lace-trimmed hearts. Instead, the painter emphasized unity and solemn glee in artwork he created for his Valentine’s Day and Christmas greeting card lines.
