Valentine Heart Faces (Weird Wednesday)

It's "Weird Wednesday" (the day when I occasionally, if I get around to it, post weird vintage, public domain illustrations that I come across) and Valentine's Day is almost here. So what better way to celebrate it than with a weird image of two hearts with faces. There is a man's face on a heart, and a woman's face in profile on a heart. The woman's face/heart overlaps the man's. She almost looks like she's about to kiss his nose? They are looking into each others eyes and maybe it is supposed to be very romantic, but the image to me just ends looking a bit odd. But odd and quirky can be good things.

The female heart originally had text filling her heart, so you could add your own text there if you want.

What creative uses could you put this image to?

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Man and Woman Reading a Paper

This is one of my favorite images I have come across in my hunt for vintage images. It is of a retro style man and woman holding and reading a paper. The woman has a rose in her well coiffed hair. The paper they are reading provides a nice "frame" or sign for sales messages and announcements or whatever else you can some up with. I think it's very versatile.

I liked this image so much that not only did I clean it up, I "vectorized" it so it has nice, crisp clean lines. I am providing a small version of this for free, in png format. It's 365 x 500 pixels at 100 dpi. 

However, if you want a much larger version (300 dpi image, 2188 pixels wide by 3000 pixels high) then you can purchase it here. 

Weird Wednesday: Periscope Hat

I like to call this the Vixen Starlet Steampunk Periscope Top Hat--because the way she is drawn reminds me of a silent film star, and the star on the periscope makes me think Hollywood glamour "star" too. But of course the periscope and the top hat makes me think of "steampunk."

This wacky fashion statement comes from a 1915 newspaper. The article claims appearances of this fancy hat had been made in New York and Chicago. It explains the style and its use this way, "A tiny mirror is tucked at an attractive and innocent angle in the bonnet so it reflects the actions of pedestrians behind the wearer." And would be used to avoid unwanted male attention, should some chap come up behind the lady looking like he wanted to flirt. I think there are much more interesting uses for it than that though.






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Halloween Couple Dancing

This illustration from 1920 seems to be of a couple wearing costumes dancing at a party. She is wearing a witches hat with a pom pom on the top and he is a (pardon my ignorance if I am wrong) a musketeer or buccaneer?






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Edwardian Boots

Here is a non-Halloween related post. I thought the button up boots from the Creepy Lady ad post yesterday were pretty cool. So I clipped them out to make them available as two pieces of clipart for you too. These come from an ad from the year 1912.

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Weird Wednesday: Creepy Lady

Welcome to the first Weird Wednesday on the Vintage Snips and Clips blog!

What is that? Well, I keep coming across things like weird ads or other weird illustrations and thought I'd try sharing them on a regular basis. (I'm really good at procrastinating though, so we'll see how well that goes.) Since I have also been trying to gather Halloween stuff, I thought the first one I would add was something that is weird, but also kind of scary would do.

Obviously this ad for shoes from the year 1912 was not intended to be weird and creepy at all. I really think the people who created this ad did not realize how utterly creepy this woman would look once the drawing was translated into ink pressed onto newspaper. The style of make-up for that point in time, drawn in ink and then printed on newspaper...didn't translate so well in the instance.
 
Her eyes are dark, surrounded by dark, thick lines, and seem almost hollow. Her eerie smile is somewhat reminiscent of The Joker from Batman (but I think those are really supposed to be dimples). She is rather haunting, in my opinion. And what is up with her one hand? It's like an alien's hand or something.

In case someone wanted to use this for a sign, invitation, or other such purpose, I tried editing the shoes and text out and left it at the original size that I obtained it as.

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Halloween Pretty Witch

Vintage Halloween Witch

I am trying to get some images up for Halloween in this month of September, so that they can be used for things that need to be made in advance before October...or bookmarked or pinned to Pinterest in anticipation/preparation until one is ready to start making things for All Hallow's Eve.

This pretty witch with her broom, pointed hat and yowling black cat is a fun, black and white, vintage image for the spooky holiday.

Beware, the witching hour is getting near!

edit: This is so funny. I just noticed that this same witch is on The Graphic's Fairy's blog, but from many years earlier. I assume she got this image from the same source as I. But if you look closely at the two versions full size, you can see the different ways they've been edited. I think her's is more "sharp" if that makes sense (mine is also somewhat smaller). Just pick which ever version you prefer. :)


 

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Woman with a Box of Chocolates

This woman holding a box of chocolates was from the same shoe ad that also had the image of roses from a previous post I made.

As far as I know there is no longer a trademark for the company listed on this box (anyone hear of Ogram's?) so it should be safe to use. To try to clarify what I mean...
This picture is in the public domain, but so are many Coca-Cola pictures from old ads...however the name Coca-Cola is trademarked so it is best not to use things that have a current trademark even if the image itself is in the public domain. I hope that makes sense.
I personally would remove the product name (and maybe the rest of the text, but I left it for those who want to use it as is. But it would also be fun to remove the text on the box and replace it with your own.




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Pretty Edwardian Lady Portrait

This is a little too belated for Valentine's Day, but here is a pretty illustrated portrait of an Edwardian lady in what may be an evening gown. A simple oval frame with rectangles and hearts as accents frames her. She looks somewhat similar to a Gibson girl illustration.

This comes from an old advertisement in a newspaper from the year 1909.



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Woman and Girls with a Basket

Here is an image of a woman holding a basket and showing its contents to two little girls. The original context of this image is in regards to how the basket is for charity and filled with items for the poor. But you can use your own imagination to decide what is in the basket and adapt it for your own use.













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Planting Seeds Garden Clipart

Here is a nice vintage image of a woman and a boy, probably mother and son, preparing to plant a bag of grass seeds that the woman holds in her hands. They are surrounded by plants, a watering can, some flower pots, and a few gardening tools.

It is another selection from the old reader I have called Ethics of Success.




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Mother and Daughters Mending Clothes

This is a sweet image of a woman with what appears to be something being mended, and two girls. One who is helping her and another who is reading. The picture was titled "After the Best."

It comes from the book Ethics of Success: Book One by William M. Thayer. This was a "reader" for the "lower grades of schools" with "Inpsiring Anecdotes from the lives of Successful Men and Women." The book I scanned it from has a copyright date of 1909, and thus is now in the public domain.

Part of the text accompanying the picture reads, "Read, study, and write, just as you wash dishes and sew, the very best you can. It is the only way to excel in anything. Don't hurry; take time, and do things well; it always takes time to do things the best way."




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