My Zebra Cards

My card collection began roughly in 1980 when I purchased my first greeting card with two of my favourite characters at that time in the one design - a zebra body with a Charlie Chaplin head. 'Cinema' was one subject in my Fine Arts degree and Charlie Chaplin was the focus of my tutorial presentation - I greatly admired his humour and pathos. I was astounded to find a card design incorporating both him and a zebra. I did not purchase the card with the intention of beginning a card collection, I just happened to find that card very appealing and one I wanted to keep for myself. Over the years, I was given zebra themed birthday cards and it was not long before I had a number of zebra cards stored in a cardboard box. Hence the beginning of my zebra card collection.

From then on I was on the look out for any greeting cards and postcards with a zebra. It is extraordinary how different each card is and the many ways a zebra can be interpreted in design. I now have over one hundred zebra greeting cards in my card collection. They are displayed individually in plastic pockets in four binders. I even have some full page magazine advertisements using zebras. In fact, one of my colleagues (from my teaching days many years ago), brought back especially for me, a full page Pontiac advertisement with zebras in it from an American magazine. How he managed to travel with it, preserving the page so beautifully without it getting a crease, is beyond me, and I truly appreciated his care and thoughtfulness.