Throwback Thursday: Notgeld, German Emergency Currency

If all money looked this pretty, I’d definitely be more apt to save it.

The images presented below represent a selection from Lliazd’s unbelievably expansive Flickr set of Notgeld, which was German emergency currency used during the post-WWI years. Lliazd’s provides us with an in-depth look into the personal, political, and aesthetic significance of these images on his Flickr page:

After 800 years of life in the same region, my wife’s family left Germany. In 1935 Nazism had become unbearable. They were lucky enough to understand the risk it posed for Jews living in Germany and they left. Until then, her family was part of a comfortable and prosperous middle class, involved in the tobacco business in the city of Karlsruhe.

At the end of the First World War her grandfather started collecting Notgeld produced by many German and Austrian towns and companies to make front to deflation first and inflation later with the objective of providing stability to workers and residents. Notgeld (emergency currency) was issued by cities, boroughs, even private companies while there was a shortage of official coins and bills. Nobody would pay in coins while their nominal value was less than the value of the metal. And when inflation went on, the state was just unable to print bills fast enough. Some companies couldn’t pay their workers because the Reichsbank just couldn’t provide enough bills. So they started to print their own money – they even asked the Reichsbank beforehand. As long as the Notgeld was accepted, no real harm was done and it just was a certificate of debt. Often it was even a more stable currency than real money, as sometimes the denomination was a certain amount of gold, dollars, corn, meat, etc.

They made it very pretty on purpose: many people collected the bills, and the debt would never have to be paid. It was printed on all kinds of materials: leather, fabric, porcelain, silk, tin foil. (Read more HERE)

Behold, the beauty of Notgeld:

From my sketchbook…

Some of these are old. Like, from 2002. I’ve never publicly shared the pages of my sketchbook before. Be gentle with me.

The Calligraphy of Marina Marjina

I discovered the unbelievably mind-blowingly beautiful calligraphy and illustration of Marina Marjina the other day via an image on We Love Typography. I might have a new hero.

The following images are taken from Marina’s Flickr stream:

Love the reds.

French Friday: Le Divan Fumoir Bohémien

In case you’ve never been over to visit Le Divan Fumoir Bohémien, please allow me to offer you several reasons why you better hightail it over there immediately…

(That’s a letter written by Voltaire, fyi.)

Vintage Stamps: S.O.S.!

Lately, I’ve been feasting my eyes on a lot of wedding blogs that feature handmade invites and/or envelopes that use vintage U.S. stamps that still serve as valid postage. I have e-mailed a couple of people regarding where I might find some of these vintage delicacies, but to no avail. Apparently people don’t want to share the wealth. Which is fine. But… if any of you out there *do* want to share the wealth, please Please PLEASE leave me a friendly comment with any links/info as to where I might get my paws on some vintage stamps. 

I and my vintage and repurposed paper addiction thank you.

In the meantime, here’s some of my inspiration as of late:

Wedding invitations and envelope packaging by 100 Layer Cake, via Oh So Beautiful Paper:

Calligraphy and envelope design by Betsy Dunlap, via Oh So Beautiful Paper:

And finally, one of my absolute favorite finds, Love, Jenna Calligraphy:

Fortunately, the U.S. Postal Service undertook a task of aesthetic brilliance recently in their adoption of the following (now available!) stamp design… which I am thrilled to be able to use for my sister’s wedding invitations:

Wordshop Wednesday: Linea Carta!

Linea Carta is the brainchild of Diva Pyari, an artist, calligrapher, and designer living in Northern California. Her beautifully illustrated gift tags and uniquely elegant calligraphy are sights to behold. I particularly enjoy beholding the Italian influence on her creations.

All images below are either taken from her website or her Etsy shop, both of which I encourage you to visit soon and frequently. Enjoy!

Alphabet gift tags:

Calligraphy:

Letterpress:

Pencil cases that I need to buy:

The Type Directors Club & Their Annual Competition

The Type Directors Club (TDC) serves as “the leading international organization whose sole purpose is to support excellence in typography, both in print and on screen” (SOURCE). The TDC holds an annual competition for excellence in typography and typographic design. The following grid serves as a sampling of this year’s competition winners:

 

I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that all of the above are typographically awesome, BUT…  overall, I have to say that Rui Abreu’s Orbe design, from the loveliness that is Fountain Type, marks my favorite:

Another, more colorful version, from Fountain Type:

One love, Orbe.

Illuminated manuscripts make me happy.

Mont Saint-Michel

First, it was the illuminated initial that shook me. Next, it was the calligraphy. And, finally, it was the entire freakin’ manuscript. The ornamentation in the margins, the calligraphed epic tale, the parchment, the scriptorium from whence it came… EVERYTHING. But nothing rocked me more than my visit to Mont Saint-Michel, in France, where I had the opportunity to set my eager feet in the scriptorium of that breathtaking monastery.

Afterward, I made a beeline for the gallery and purchased a ton of cards, souvenirs, and 3 separate books on illuminated medieval manuscripts. One love, Mont Saint-Michel.

The following images are borrowed from the brilliant Scholar’s Resource site, which contains images of all varieties of art. But the manuscripts are obviously the coolest. I’m not at all biased.