The Story of Flying Rabbit™ Postcards
By Susan Hack-Lane
It is long after the Golden Age of Postcards and among collectors, few consider contemporary cards collectible. Postcards are
still being produced and most often take the minor role of vacation scenery, exhibition cards, rack cards, and your every day
advertising mail. Are these collectible? In their small numbers it is hard to build upon them without considering whether they
take on a theme or are recognized for a particular artist's work. However, find a topic and the right collector and the possibilities
are there.
With younger collectors I see less bias against modern cards. But here I am, older than some, and I collect Rick Geary
illustrations for National Postcard Week, Larry Fulton cards for his large letter geographical, political and social issues cards,
Bernard Veyri and Patrick Hamm of France and others, all produced within the last days or the last two decades. If you are a
collector of contemporary cards you may know other names but finding these artists and their work is no easy task.
Back in the day, let us say, 1992, Sandy Waters, a seasoned postcard collector, wanted to make her contribution to the
postcard hobby. She knew what she enjoyed in a postcard and also knew what topics were collectible. Inspired by a card in her
own collection, her company name and logo were conceived as Flying Rabbit. Enterprising as she was, energetic and
committed, with family and artist friends in the wings, she commissioned uncolored artwork based on her own concepts. It is
intriguing to sit down with Sandy and go over her cards and the stories that she tells. Some cards were created with particular
people in mind, others had tidbits of hidden tales, like when she accidentally drew the peace sign upside down and recreated
the Mercedes logo, hopefully unnoticed by her collectors.
Over the course of her twenty-eight different editions, all the cards would be signed by the individual artists. The images
were printed on the best quality paper in limited runs. Then, in a very systematic method, Sandy would hand color each card.
To expand upon that, she colored 10 to 12, enough to take to the next scheduled show or to fill mail orders. She aimed for the
soft pastel-effect seen on the old M. M. Vienne cards of almost a century before, but as she proceeded, her own color palette
evolved. By the second year she came up with the concept of installment cards with two, three, or four cards to a set. For the
installment cards, the artwork was printed to include the entire image and then cut down to postcard size (mostly standard 3.5" x
5.5") and a companion uncut sheet was also offered. Trying to come up with new ideas, she later created the Special
Anniversary Edition, the Heirloom Edition, and the Jubilee Collections.
Sandy would set up at shows in York and Wichita, and began to acquire a customer base with clients coming back to her
time and again or subscribing by mail. She succeeded in producing series after series through 2004 when the labor intensive
work became too much for her hands. When she had produced her last cards, including
some for her granddaughters, she destroyed all uncolored cards so that her work would end
with what she created by her own hand. It is no surprise that Flying Rabbit cards became
collectible from the day she started. Her work remains highly sought after.
I called Sandy the other day and while not doing the
intricate work of her Flying Rabbit days, I caught her with a
paintbrush in hand. She was painting the sashes on all the
second floor windows of her home.
Sandy Waters, nee Brandt, was born in New York City
but is a longtime Baltimore resident. When not attending to
her home and husband, Sandy has two granddaughters
that she cherishes and a dog, a cat, and a cockatiel to keep
her company. She travels for postcards and for hiking. At
home she derives pleasure from her certified wildlife habitat
backyard garden. Since 2002 she has volunteered as a
math and language arts teacher working with 4th grade
children under a Title I program . She is one-of-a-kind and
has contributed to our wealth of postcards with each and
every one of her holiday, installment, and artist signed
creations.
It is 2011 and now it is time to create an Internet home
for Flying Rabbit postcards. Beginning with Bruce
Sundling's offer to scan all the Flying Rabbit cards, Ray
Hahn and I set out to work with Sandy to gather her words
and perspective on organizing a web site. Now, we invite
you to look at the Flying Rabbit pages at flyingrabbit.lockkeeper.com to see the breadth of work produced in modern times by
Sandy Waters, proprietor, and her wonderful complement of Flying Rabbit artists.
[Editor’s note: Sandy’s first Flying Rabbit postcard (1992) is seen at right on top; her last installment set (2004) is second.]
|
|
