Old Tom Bloggery

Lauren's (almost) Valentine's Day present from me.

2012-02-17T15:45:00.000-08:00

Behold, the butt cleavage dress.

This 8th Wonder of the World sure knows how to show off a woman's sexiest ass-ets. Am I right?! ZING!

Sadly, the dress sold before I was able to nab it for Lauren's butt cheeks. Maybe next year.

Via Laughing Squid.

Um, yeah.

2012-01-25T07:09:00.000-08:00

Anyone who wears this sweater is awesome in our book. More here.

Write On!

2012-01-23T08:00:00.000-08:00

January 23 is National Handwriting Day (not to be confused with National Letter Writing Week, Jan 8-14). We can think of no better day for you to practice your penmanship. Take it from our new Words of Wisdom poster series:

How to Write.

Before you can start practicing how to write your Ps and Qs, you need to learn how to hold a writing utensil. According to this poster, apparently you're supposed to hold a pen like a well-educated adult, not some graceless monkey who may use the pen to inadvertently jab himself in the eyeballs.

Some handy tips to remember:

-Hold the pen firmly, but not so tightly as to cramp the fingers.

-Avoid the finger movement. It is not practical.

-The thoughtful student in penmanship, as in other studies, will win.

And for the love of all that's holy, "Keep both feet on the floor."

Italics mean the poster is serious.

Now that you have learned how to hold a pen, what are you going to do with it? Conduct an orchestra? Stick it in your ear? Eat soup with it?

Why not write someone a letter? Or do your taxes? Or make a list of all the reasons you can't eat soup with a pen? According to this here poster, good penmanship doesn't come naturally, so you'd better study up on how to ensure that your ledger is legible:

How to Improve Your Penmanship in Letter Writing.

Here are a few easy tips:

     -Write plainly and neatly as possible, rapidly if you can, slowly if you must.

     -Neatness, elegance, and correctness are all equally important as mere legibility.

     -Making a wavy line to represent a word is an injury to the writer and is vexatious, unsatisfactory, and disrespectful to the reader.

     -Vexatious: adjective; causing or tending to cause annoyance, frustration, or worry

   -You're welcome.

Now that you're able to hold a pen and form words out of letters on a piece of paper, the possibilities are endless! You could apply for a job, practice appropriate business conduct, or buy a horse.


Hey, these posters didn't write themselves.

Whatever you choose to do with your new skills, always remember, keep those feet planted, buddy.

OTF Takes a Field Trip

2012-01-19T10:37:00.000-08:00

By now, you're all familiar with Old Tom Foolery's mascot, Ryder Lee.

We call him Master Scruffy McScruffenstien Esquire III

But there's a new dog in town, Zero, who is Jen's Mini Aussie/Border Collie (at least that's what we think she is).

Oh, hai.

Ryder and Zero finally met for the first time when OTF took a doggie field trip to the Minneapolis Metrodome last week. The stadium opened their revolving doors to furry four-legged friends of all sizes and energy levels to run, poo, and pee in the outer rim of the arena.

Ryder and Zero met tons of new doggies at the dome and begged us to have a slumber party in which all dogs would be required to paint each others' toenails and talk about that cute schnauzer in math class. However, everyone was pretty worn out after running around in a circle for two hours, so we called it a night.

"OMG, we should totes go get smoothies after this."
"Yes. Totes."

Zero understands her place as co-mascot and has agreed not to try to gain full mascot status. However, she continues to smell Ryder on Jen's jacket and boots for several minutes every night when she gets home from OTF. Plotting to overthrow the hierarchy?

We may never know.

The nicest wrong number

2012-01-15T13:05:00.000-08:00

The other night I got a call from a number I didn't recognize. As soon as I said "hello," I heard a click on the other end. A few minutes later, this text came in.

Let's all try to act more like this anonymous person in 2012.

And yes, I know my phone is from the Stone Age.

FABulous news!

2012-01-09T16:16:00.000-08:00

We are having a pretty good day considering it's Monday. Usually, Mondays are reserved for dragging ourselves out of bed, screaming obscenities at our monitors, keeping the coffee pot on repeat, and single-handedly downing an entire half-gallon of Edy's mint chocolate chip ice cream for lunch. Mind you, today is no different, except that we opted for strawberry instead of mint chocolate and we're pretty psyched that our products are being featured on fab.com.

What's fab.com, you ask? It's a super swell web store that features different daily deals from design-y companies. Our wallets can confirm that we've been big fans of fab.com for a while. Everything is always offered at a pretty decent sale price, so we've managed to pick up some fun prints, shirts, art, and jewelry at a severe discount. Follow this link to see our Fab shop, but if you don't have an account, you can't peruse the site. We encourage you to sign up and poke around! Hey, it's free to look. Maybe you'll find that chic square pizza cutter or diamond-encrusted space helmet cat bed you've been looking for.*

Anyway, back to us.

Fab.com will feature Old Tom Foolery cards, posters, shirts, and more for the next few days, so order now if you want to save. (Not to hint or anything, but you never did send your elderly neighbor lady a thank you card for the "Kittens Monthly" subscription she got you for Christmas.) While you're at it, invite your friends to join Fab using your special code (see site for details), and you can get credit to spend on the site. We can't think of a better way to spend a Monday!

*If these exist, please leave me a link in the comments. I will buy them today, and I don't even own a cat or a pizza.

(JAN 8-14) National Letter Writing Week

2012-01-09T09:30:00.000-08:00

January 8-14 is National Letter Writing Week! (Finally.) What better way to celebrate than to send some uncrappy cards to your loved ones? We have cards for, like, tons of occasions, or no occasion at all! This is a good time to remind you that you never sent your Aunt Gracie a thank you card for that heinous sweater she bought you for Hanukkah. Here's a reasonable one:

Inheritance, here you come!

In an age full of email and texting, receiving a tangible card has never been more special. Awwwwzzzz.

Seriously, whether you buy it from us or not, send someone a card this week. They’ll love you extra hard.

Sound it Out

2012-01-04T09:13:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's already the 4th day of January. Have you given up on your resolutions for the new year yet? I haven't. I vowed to learn the English language real good by following these youTube videos from PronunciationManual:

Hm. I always thought it was pronounced like "quinoa." The K must be silent.

French appetizers have always had my tongue in a twist. Let's give hors d'oeuvres a try:

Mmm... diloosuss.

Or everyone's favourite tex-mex chain restaurant...

Sean Toodle.

If you're looking for someone to sound out English words and Hollywood's best more accurately, visit PronunciationBook (the original dude that PronunciationManual is mocking). But beware, the real guy will never teach you how to say gems like this:

I think Scroti Wontoobsis would approve.

Contagious Laughter

2011-12-28T09:47:00.000-08:00

Pretty sure it was an Old Tom Foolery card that started this:

Thanks for the tip, Cabell.

Season's Eatings

2011-12-23T23:59:00.000-08:00

If you’re anything like me, you waited until the last holiday second to do everything: shop for presents, mail out cards, get your leg lamp out of storage… Regrettably, I never got around to making any adorable little gingerbread men this year, but I’m proud to say that the ole tried and true Toll House chocolate chip cookie recipe made its way to my counter last week. With that, about a million deliciously sweet and gooey treats were born.

Sometimes, you don't mess with a classic.

I brought half the batch in for the gang at Old Tom Foolery (cause sharing is how we do), and was greeted by our lovely Heather, who spent her previous evening baking Grandma Helen’s super secret recipe for chocolate peanut butter swirl cookies (not pictured because we ate them all before anyone whipped out a camera. Trust me: adorable and amazing.). To add to the confectionary wonderment, Lauren graced the cookie collection with the remaining stash of treats that Joel’s uncle mailed down, that of which contained some oh-so-yummy powdered sugar tea cookies and delightfully nostalgic snicker doodles.

Cookies: a more delicious Christmas present than a new pair of socks.

Why am I taunting you with tales of awesome cookie time? Because lots of you are probably spending this weekend with the peeps that you love the most, and I’m a strong believer in bonding over baking. Some of my favourite family memories happened over a Kitchen Aid mixer and a rolling pin. So why not pull out Grandma’s top secret recipe, or make a batch of your uncle’s famous sugar cookies, or just throw together the recipe on the back of the chocolate chip bag? Just don’t forget that your dad hates coconut, and your second cousin is allergic to nuts. Share your treats with each other, and then share your stories with us! We’d love to be a part of your holiday too.

Happy holidays to all of you,

From all of us at Old Tom Foolery

In a Holidaze

2011-12-14T22:02:00.000-08:00

Wow, the holidays are coming up fast. We know this because everything is covered in seizure-inducing blinky lights and Christmas music has been playing in Target for 6 1/2 weeks. Also because it’s four degrees in Minnesota as I write this post.

Four.

Degrees.

Four.

"I'm gonna go ahead and stay home if that's cool."

Thanks to our good friend Jack Frost, we are doing every ounce of holiday shopping online this year. Relaxing at home in our jammies and sock monkey slippers with a big ole steamy mug of hot cocoa totally beats putting on pants and going to a crowded store in the freezing cold. Did you know that you can do the same thing? It’s awesome! (Slippers optional.)

You can even order fun gifts from Old Tom Foolery if you want. In addition to holiday cards (which you still have time to send, procrastinator!), we have bunches of boxed card sets, posters, t-shirts, tote bags, and notepads that make awesome gifts. Our Typestache line is always a hit with our fellow design nerds, and we also have a new line of Words of Wisdom vintage posters that are guaranteed to class up any wall.

See how wisdomy this homeowner looks?

Don't forget, you can still save 15% on all orders over $30 by entering the coupon code OHMYGOD. Pretty rad, right?

So stay inside this winter and shop from the couch. We won’t tell anyone about that stain on your sweatpants.

New faces at Old Tom Foolery

2011-12-14T10:45:00.000-08:00

We're happy to announce that there are some new faces at Old Tom Foolery.

This bright, smiling mug belongs to our new Right-Hand Lady, Heather. With 11 years of experience at Minneapolis-based Blu Dot, Heather is leading the charge on the sales and account management front. She's also a wiz when it come to marketing and really knows how to handle her power tools.

A fresh transplant from Orlando, we're happy to welcome Jen to the OTF team and Minnesota's frigid winters. Jen is our resident Does-Everything Gal and social media maven. You'll be hearing from her here on our blog and she'll surely be tweeting and facebooking away as well. Drop her a comment and make her feel all warm and fuzzy.

Things are a-changing at Old Tom Foolery, and we're looking forward to a doozy of a 2012 with our new gang.

Typestache poster makes a cameo on Design*Sponge!

2011-11-29T08:31:00.000-08:00

We were pleasantly surprised to see our Typestache poster on Design*Sponge yesterday. It was featured in this "sneak peek" of Brooklyn-based couple Rachel Been and Ben Brown's apartment. It's a great-looking space--and our poster looked pretty darn good on that wall, if we do say so ourselves. Here's the photo:

Check out the rest of their apartment photos here.

It's Movember!

2011-11-09T10:35:00.000-08:00

Among all the gross, sleazy-looking mustaches in the world (see above), there is the occasional follicly gifted gentleman who is able to nurture and cultivate a majestic bushy mass above his upper lip. Let's hope that rare talent lies within the thousands of men who are growing mustaches this month for Movember.

If you're not familiar with Movember, it's an international charity organization that encourages men to grow mustaches to raise money and awareness for prostate cancer every November. And in addition to their hair-growing efforts, many businesses like ours are donating sales of mustache-themed products to the cause.

So if you've been considering snatching up some of our Typestache-themed products, now's the time. Because we'll be donating 10% of all sales for Typestache posters, totes, and tees to Movember for the rest of the month.

Just imagine how good it would feel to get some of your holiday gifts purchased before the calendar strikes December. Just sayin'.

Shop away, good citizens. Shop away.

No words. Just watch.

2011-11-09T08:29:00.000-08:00

Via Kottke.

Happy Halloween from The Colonel!

2011-10-31T19:52:00.000-07:00

Last dog post for a while. We promise.

Our mascot, Ryder: One year later

2011-10-19T09:37:00.000-07:00

Come on, really??

2011-10-06T10:48:00.000-07:00

If you're a fan of Old Tom Foolery, you've probably seen this Typestache poster we started selling last year, designed by our friend, the one and only Tor Weeks:

Well, yesterday, we stumbled across an Etsy shop run by a woman from France. Now, we're not claiming we invented the idea of laying things out in a grid, but she could have at least changed the font:

But wait! When you zoom in on one of the images, what are those hats named?

That's right--the exact same names as most of our Typestaches. Oops. Looks like someone forgot to cover her tracks.

It's one thing to be inspired by someone else's work, but it's another thing to blatantly borrow from it. Would have loved to see this lady put more of her own twist on these posters, rather than just plop some new images into an existing design she found on our Etsy shop. That's just lazy.

But enough of our whining. What do you think? Flattery or Scammery?

Old people and webcams: look out.

2011-09-16T12:29:00.000-07:00

Four million people scooped us on this one, but it's still funny:

Thanks to our resident web sleuth, Shannon, for the hot (er, lukewarm) tip.

Rick Astley pie chart

2011-08-08T14:10:00.000-07:00

Okay, okay. We know the whole ironic Rick Astley craze is sooooo 2008. And yet, still, this colorful little graph managed to tickle our funny bone:

In other Rick Astley news, the White House recently Rickrolled its Twitter followers.

It Would Take A Strong Strong Man to not be impressed by that.

Hall & Oates? Or just Oates?

2011-07-26T12:16:00.000-07:00

We were ordering some mundane shipping supplies from Uline today when we were pleasantly surprised to find out we qualified for a free gift. Ooooh!! A free gift?! We never win free gifts!!

The suspense was killing us. What could it be? A pen? A bike? A new car??

Nope. Probably the most random free gift in the history of free gifts:

That's right. Either a Hall & Oates CD, or a solo Oates CD.

Everybody knows Oates is nothing without Hall (or a mustache, for that matter). Total no-brainer.

Which one would you have chosen?

The Oomphalapompatronium

2011-07-12T07:48:00.000-07:00

Leonard Solomon makes his own whimsical musical instruments. This organ-esque contraption is as awesome as its name:

He reminds me of Doc from Back to the Future. Long live crazy white-haired inventors.

Via Laughing Squid.

Summer in the City of Lakes

2011-06-29T12:41:00.000-07:00

The weather in Minneapolis has officially changed from frigid to fantastic.

Here's proof:

Shannon the Great

2011-06-23T15:35:00.000-07:00

Meet Shannon Eveland. Our part-time go-to girl.

You might recognize her torso from this typestache t-shirt photo on our website. In case you were worried she was headless, we figured it was high time we revealed her smiling face for all the world to see.

Shannon is a rare talent. She can stuff cards into sleeves faster than a speeding softball (her favorite sport), even while simultaneously watching reruns of distractingly horrible sitcoms like According to Jim.

But that’s not all. She singlehandedly packs up 99% of the orders we ship from our underground lair, and she does it all with the perfect combination of love and accuracy. Seriously, she’s like a card-packing cyborg, but with emotions and stuff.

(Speaking of emotions, Shannon has a major crush on American Idol winner/George W. Bush’s teenage lookalike, Scotty McCreery. But like the total pro she is, she never lets those gooey emotions affect her machinelike productivity on the job.)

Ms. Eveland is a 2010 graduate of the venerable College of St. Benedict up in Middle-of-Nowhere, Minnesota. She’s been honing her management skills as our Office Manager Extraordinaire since she started working for us last August, and we’re lucky to have her.

We know we can’t possibly keep someone this driven and capable for long without paying her the seven-figure salary she’s worth, but we’re hoping she won’t notice and decides to stay awhile. She’s definitely a keeper.

Thanks for making us look good, Shannon. You’re like family to us.

It's getting real.

2011-06-22T09:18:00.000-07:00

In keeping with our apparent theme of parody rap videos, here's another dandy for your Humpday:

Sweat Up In My Creases

2011-06-10T07:58:00.000-07:00

Check out this disturbingly funny little video made by some ad friends of ours. It's a timely one, too--the mercury hit 103 Fahrenheit degrees in Minneapolis earlier this week. (Talk about swampy creases.)

Speaking of sweat, get 15% off your order at the Old Tom Foolery website now through June 30th by entering coupon code HOTSWEATYSUMMER at checkout.

Sweat Up In My Creases from Sweat Up In My Creases on Vimeo.

Iron & Wine & Old Tom Foolery

2011-06-01T07:45:00.000-07:00

One of the best things about living in the Twin Cities is its awesome local radio station, 89.3 The Current.

Well, we here at OTF were two of only 20 people lucky enough to win tickets to a recent in-studio performance by Sam Beam (a.k.a. Iron & Wine) at The Current headquarters in St. Paul.

What a treat that was. You can actually listen to a podcast of the live performance right here. And if you haven’t picked up his new album, Kiss Each Other Clean, you should stop reading this post and go do so now, because, friend, you’re missing out.

Here's a picture from the show. He kind of looks like our logo, don't you think?

New cards + new website, comin' atcha

2011-05-26T11:02:00.000-07:00

We’re pretty juiced to announce that we’ve just released 24 new cards. That's 16 new Headlines cards and 8 new Footnotes cards (and, yes, 16 + 8 equals 24, for all you non-math majors out there).

Here’s a glimpse of the new release:

Check out all 24 new cards right here.

And while you're there, you may notice we've given our website a fancy-schmancy makeover, with help from John, Mike, Chuck and the rest of the talented folks at Chux Print and Design. A big thanks to those guys for helping us look more legitimate in the wild world of cyberspace.

We wo-wo-won!

2011-05-24T12:27:00.000-07:00

OTF received the LOUIE Award for best funny Christmas card! Woo-hoo! Buy the award-winning card here.

Start spreading the news

2011-05-14T21:01:00.000-07:00

Old Tom Foolery is in town. NSS Booth #2141-2143.

2-peat?

2011-05-09T11:58:00.000-07:00

Exciting news for us Old Tom Fools as we found out we’re up for three more LOUIE Awards this year. We won our first two LOUIEs last year, and would love nothing more than to keep that winning streak alive at this year’s competition.

Some of our favorite fellow cardmakers are up for LOUIEs, too, including Amy Smyth Made It, Bald Guy Greetings, Dude and Chick, Screech Owl Design, and Zeichen Press, so a big congrats to all those guys.

The fancy LOUIE Awards shindig will be held on May 16th in NYC. Keep your fingers crossed, and we’ll keep you posted.

Nu Thang

2011-05-05T08:08:00.000-07:00

The Eminem of Christian rap:

Off the grid (sort of)

2011-05-04T06:00:00.000-07:00

In the midst of all the construction craziness, we were able to sneak away last month for a much-needed creative retreat up to Minnesota’s North Shore on Lake Superior, only about 100 miles from the Canadian border. A little R&R is just what the doctor ordered.

Here are a few photos from our trip:

Come see us at the NSS!

2011-05-03T06:00:00.000-07:00

Booth #2141-2143. We’re in a huge doublewide booth this year, so you can’t miss us. Yee-haw!

Told you so

2011-05-02T12:34:00.000-07:00

Some of you may have been surprised to hear the news about Osama bin Laden's death last night. Not us. OTF had intelligence to suggest bin Laden was going down waaaay back in 2009. Which is why we released this card:

No, we're not dead

2011-05-02T12:29:00.000-07:00

Has it really been almost three months since our last post?!

Yikes. Pretty embarrassing.

In our defense, we’ve been working nonstop trying to get our new Minneapolis headquarters in order. (As you may or may not know, we’ve been operating out of a temporary studio since we moved here last August.)

Well, we’re fiiiiiinally putting the finishing touches on the project, and we’re excited about how it’s all coming together. It’s going to be quite the upgrade from our old digs.

Thank you for bearing with us as we went dark for the past few months. For your patience, we’d like to reward you with a sneak peek of our new warehouse. Just a few more shelves to put up and we’ll be good to go…

Help us win $10,000!

2011-02-07T21:04:00.000-08:00

While shopping for a new car last month, we came across this awesome jingle contest put on by our local Nissan dealership, and figured we'd give it a whirl. Our philosophy: writing a jingle is just like writing a greeting card--make it quick and snappy and quirky. That way, even if it sucks, at least it'll be different. You be the judge.

If you like what you hear (heck, even if you don't), you can help us win the $10K grand prize by watching our video, then logging in and rating it 5 stars. And if you're feeling really generous, go ahead post a gushing comment about how much you loved it.

10,000 thank yous in advance.

Now, without further ado, we give you our "Ridiculously Catchy Old-Timey Jingle."

WARNING: You might not be able to get it out of your head:

Do your Valentine right.

2011-02-05T15:29:00.000-08:00

Everybody's favorite made-up holiday is just around the corner. This year, we encourage you to skip the syrupy sentiments and make your valentine laugh, not barf.

Collect 'em all:

Lots more V-Day cards here.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T13:33:00.000-08:00

Ginger. Snap!

2010-12-28T15:02:00.000-08:00

We love all our reps equally. They all do an amazing job for us—out there on the front lines, down in the trenches, hawking our wares to people who may or may not want them. It’s a tough job and we’re eternally grateful to each and every one of them for their service.

But this year, we feel compelled to recognize one particular rep for kicking so ridiculously much ass. And that rep’s name is Ginger McCleskey.

Ginger reps us in our former home base of Northern California. Since we signed on with her right around this time last year, she’s been an absolute animal. In a good way.

She’s opened more than 15 new accounts, gotten us tons of consistent reorders and is always hungry for more. She’s just a one-woman show, but she’s as productive as fifty salespeople combined.

A freak of sales nature? Perhaps. But we’re sure glad to be on her team.

For her incredible effort, we’d like to reward her with a humble $100 gift certificate to Chez Panisse, a world-renowned restaurant right in her neck of the woods. Just a tiny, but heartfelt, token of our appreciation.

Thank you to Ginger, and to all our sales reps, for a successful 2010. Our sales were up more than double from last year, and we couldn’t have done it without you.

Here’s to an even huge-er 2011.

Merry Christmas, girls and boys.

2010-12-25T11:20:00.000-08:00

Finally, some modern-day holiday songs that aren't gag-me-with-a-spoon syrupy-sweet. Free for your downloading pleasure. Thank you, Target.

Here's the one we can't get out of our heads here at the Old Tom Foolery compound:

OTF Superfan Contest

2010-12-09T14:18:00.000-08:00

Are you an Old Tom Foolery superfan? Tell us why and the person who has the craziest OTF superfan story will win SIX FREE CARDS of his or her choice. We might even share some of the stories if there are some doozies in there. Just email us at info@oldtomfoolery.com by December 31st and write "Superfan" in the subject line. Now have at it!

Holy totes! And tees, too.

2010-12-01T14:42:00.000-08:00

Typestache fans, brace yourselves: "A Field Guide to Typestaches" is now available printed on tote bags and t-shirts. Did somebody say "holiday gift?"

Buy the totes here, men's shirts here, and women's shirts here. Oh yeah, we've got posters, too.

How do you say “Old Tom Foolery” in Japanese?

2010-12-01T13:15:00.000-08:00

Lauren and I were recently interviewed for a super cool Japanese book about letterpress printing, written and compiled by the talented author Miki Usui. Though we can’t read the book (it’s written entirely in Japanese), we can only assume it’s as thoughtful and interesting as Miki herself.

We Old Tom Fools are in some good company in this book, including Dutch Door Press, Carrot & Stick, and Hello! Lucky. Pick up your own copy—even if you can’t read it, you’ll definitely be able to appreciate the pretty pictures.

Typestache Poster: Behind the Scenes

2010-12-01T09:33:00.000-08:00

Screen-printing is a new technique for us at Old Tom Foolery and we think it's pretty cool. Our Minneapolitan printer-friend Mike Ritter has been printing our Typestache posters, which were designed by our San Franciscan friend, Tor Weeks. It's a sort of merging of our old and new worlds, if you will.

Anywho, Mike was kind enough to give us a behind-the-scenes tour of www.chuxprint.com during his last Typestache poster printing session. We thoroughly enjoyed seeing his shop and watching the posters come to life. The full set of photos from our tour can be viewed here.

**This project was brought to you under a collaborative effort from: Tor Weeks, Old Tom Foolery, Henley Mpls, Chux Screen Printing, Northwest Graphic Supply Co., Anchor Paper, the guy who gave away the free vacuum we use on the poster press, John Ritter's mechanical knowhow - elbow grease - and tools, and Saint Augustine of Hippo (the Patron Saint of Printers).

Puppy Love

2010-11-01T10:14:00.000-07:00

We're thrilled to announce that Old Tom Foolery has a new mascot. His temporary name is Ryder Lee, and he's a sweet 'n' scruffy mutt from Kentucky. He doesn't know many tricks yet, but he is an excellent greeting card writer.

Retailer Spotlight: mac & murphy

2010-10-26T08:21:00.000-07:00

If you're craving some good ol' southern hospitality, head on down to mac & murphy in Charleston, South Carolina. This southern belle of a shop is run by the lovely Liz and Ami, who we first met at the National Stationery Show in 2008. Not only does their shop have a bright, modern feel, but they also have a garden in the back where you can sip some tea and take some time to write thoughtful messages in your cards. They'll even stamp and mail them for you! If you can't make it to Charleston, they also feature lots of their fun products on their blog.

Todd Lamb is funny.

2010-10-22T07:42:00.000-07:00

We all have funny ideas that never go anywhere. But this guy is a doer. He just grabs the bull by the horns and makes funny stuff. Kudos to him.

Get ready to laugh:

More "Notes From Chris" here.

And here's an episode from Todd's "Loud People" online video series:

Schwartz-nanigans

2010-10-22T07:36:00.000-07:00

Check out this tutorial for The New Yorker iPad app, starring a mustachioed Jason Schwartzman and directed by one Roman Coppola (channeling his inner Wes Anderson).

Simple + smart + stupid = our favorite kind of humor.

The Minnesota State Fair: Looking at animals, eating animals, and more!

2010-10-14T07:12:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, we finally visited the long-awaited Minnesota State Fair. And boy was it a sight to see. Here are some photo highlights (the full set of photos from the day can be found here).

Some fun Typestache press

2010-10-11T13:07:00.000-07:00

f0nt.com:

Dutch Cowgirls:

Thinking for a Living:

Boing Boing:

From the "City by the Bay" to the "City of Lakes"

2010-10-04T07:00:00.000-07:00

While our heart still sometimes aches for San Francisco, we're also really liking our new 'hood in Minneapolis. They call it the City of Lakes, and we're really loving that aspect of the city. We're located about two blocks from Lake Harriet, which has a nice 3-mile walking path around it and plenty of beautiful scenery. Here's a glimpse of what it has to offer. More photos can be found here.

Retailer Spotlight: wordshop.

2010-10-01T06:56:00.000-07:00

A fantastic shop in Denver called wordshop. has been one of our favorite customers from the get-go. Self-proclaimed "Inkstress," Jill Alyn, picked up our line on our very first day in business at the National Stationery Show in May of 2008. In her own words, "wordshop. is Denver's premier indy stationery shop, offering over 100 lines of eco-friendly paper goods - wedding invitations, letterpress, baby announcements, greeting cards, personal stationery, gifts and more." Jill's enthusiasm for her shop (and everything else) is quite contagious and we highly recommend heading on over to Denver, if only to visit her shop.

This one goes out to Nick Loonan*

2010-10-01T06:55:00.000-07:00

*who we recently found out is an avid reader of this blog.

Notepads?! No way!

2010-09-27T06:57:00.000-07:00

It's true. We're now offering notepads on our online store. These 50-sheet "To do" pads are part of our Footnotes Collection, with a qualifying footnote that reads, "*Or not to do. That is the question."

Get 'em while they're hot.

Keep A-Votin'

2010-09-26T21:49:00.000-07:00

Our Typestache poster (designed by the über-talented Tor Weeks) has been nominated for one of Kaboodle's top posters in their “Heart the Hottest Posters” Contest and Giveaway.

Just by voting for our poster, you're are automatically entered for a chance to win a $100 Mastercard gift card. We're already in first place, but let's make sure it stays that way. Show some Typestache love and vote for us!

This just in: A Typestache poster giveway!

2010-08-23T08:41:00.000-07:00

Want one of our Typestache posters, but too cheap to spend any money? Our friend Beth at Hello, Splendor is giving one away on her site. So head on over there and check out the rest of her fantastic blog while you're at it. She's one talented lady.

Gettin’ ready for Renegade

2010-07-19T22:23:00.000-07:00

Now that the National Stationery Show, our wedding, and our honeymoon are nothing but misty water-colored memories, it’s time for us to get back to business—starting with the Renegade Craft Fair in San Francisco. This is our second year exhibiting at Renegade, and we’re really excited to be back.

In addition to selling our Footnotes Collection and Headlines Collection cards, we’ll also be hawking our new poster, “A Field Guide to Typestaches," designed by Tor Weeks.

It’s the first time the poster will be on display for you, the viewing public, to touch and sniff and (hopefully) buy.

If you’re in SF, come visit us Saturday, July 31st and Sunday, August 1st (11am to 7pm each day) at the Fort Mason Center Festival Pavilion. And for all you fellow cheap skates out there, fret not—admission is FREE.

Whoa! Double-rainbow!

2010-07-19T22:20:00.000-07:00

We only saw a couple of barely visible rainbows while we were in Hawaii. If only we’d seen what this guy saw:

Maui Wowie

2010-07-19T22:19:00.000-07:00

Sweet Child O’ Mine is Maui ever beautiful. We honeymooned there for 8 nights and didn’t really want to come home. We stayed in 3 different cities on the island: Wailea (which, to reference another GNR hit, might as well be called Paradise City), Pa’ia, and Hana. Aside from the occasional gecko in our cottage in Hana and some nasty mosquito bites during a hike at Haleakala National Park, we loved every minute of our trip. Here’s a sampling of the horrible scenery we were forced to endure:

For your viewing pleasure

2010-07-19T22:10:00.000-07:00

We had fun putting together this little slideshow for our wedding. WARNING: You will learn more about us than you ever wanted to know.

The knot has been tied

2010-07-19T21:58:00.000-07:00

Finally! After an extended 4-year engagement and way too much wedding planning, we finally decided to stop living in sin and get hitched on July 3rd. The party was a blast. About 175 of our family and friends joined us in Lauren’s hometown of Toledo, Ohio, for the wedding weekend. Here's a photo from the big day:

We’ve (almost) got a new address

2010-07-19T21:49:00.000-07:00

After an extensive search, we finally found a new home/world headquarters for Old Tom Foolery:

It’s in the Lynnhurst neighborhood of South Minneapolis (near Lake Harriet for all you Minneapolitans out there). We fell in love with the location, and liked the fact that we could finish the basement to fit our greeting card needs. We close on August 6th, so from that date forward, here’s the new OTF mailing address:

Old Tom Foolery
4844 Emerson Ave. S.
Minneapolis, MN 55419

OTF wins two LOUIE Awards!

2010-07-19T21:47:00.000-07:00

Woo-hoo! We’re thrilled to report we took home our first- and second-ever LOUIE Awards back in May during the National Stationery Show in NYC.

For those of you who aren’t stationery-biz insiders, the LOUIEs are the Academy Awards of the greeting card industry.

The awards ceremony was a blast—we had fun hanging out with Ian and Sean from Bald Guy Greetings, Bryan and Michelle from Pictura, and the whole gang from J-Dig (all of whom took home their own LOUIEs that night). Needless to say, drunken celebratory shenanigans ensued.

So much happened that night, it’s hard to remember it all. A few of the highlights:

Ian’s ridiculously awesome wig at the LOUIE Awards
Our sketchy limo ride from the LOUIE Awards ceremony to a total dive bar called the Rusty Knot (a limo that incidentally reeked of strippers and massage oil)
Pickleback shots at the Rusty Knot (The Pickleback was the Rusty Knot’s house specialty drink, consisting of a shot of whiskey followed by a pickle juice chaser. And I must say, it was surprisingly tasty.)

Ahhhh, good times. I’m getting choked up just thinking about it. May 17, 2010, will certainly go down as a monumental day in the history of Old Tom Foolery.

Two months since our last post?!?!

2010-07-19T21:45:00.000-07:00

Sheesh. What a bunch of slackers.

BUT, in our defense, we’ve been effing busy these past two months. Soooooo much news to report. Instead of doing one giant post, let’s break it up into a bunch of tasty bite-size chunks (like those Fun Size Snickers Bars). Here we go…

New stuff for the NSS! Booth 1729

2010-05-16T05:16:00.000-07:00

We're excited to be debuting a whole bunch of fun new stuff at the National Stationery Show in NYC this year.

On the greeting card front, we've got 8 new Headlines Collection styles, in the Birthday, Baby, Love, and Holiday/Christmas/Hanukkah categories. Here's a sneak preview:

We're also branching out into some entirely new product categories. First, we're offering a good old-fashioned notepad, which is a natural extension of our Footnotes Collection:

And we're also working with our good friend (and talented designer) Tor Weeks to screen-print an updated version of her awesome "A Field Guide to Typestaches" poster:

(A special shoutout to another multitalented friend, Mike Ritter of Henley-Mpls, who's screen-printing the posters.)

If you'll be at the NSS, be sure to stop by our booth, #1729, to see all our new stuff up-close and personal. We'll even be giving away free tote bags to the first 200 fans. Hope to see you there!

Jean of All Trades

2010-05-13T01:58:00.000-07:00

Say hello to Jean Carey: the newest member of the OTF family.

Jean has been helping us out on Saturdays for the past few months, as a sales rep/business consultant/envelope stuffer/administrative assistant/bill collector/focus group of one/all-around doer of everything. In short, she's been a total lifesaver.

She sent us an email out of the blue back in January and asked if we could use some help. It was as if the heavens had delivered us an angel who was willing to be paid in greeting cards.

Jean's goal in coming to OTF was to get an insider's look at the greeting card industry. She's a lifelong lover of stationery, and hopes to one day open her own gift boutique or become a buyer for a stationery company.

Her sales experience is vast (she worked for The Ritz-Carlton for 8 years), her enthusiasm is contagious, and her knowlege of the stationery industry is impressive. She'd be a huge asset for any lucky stationery company with the ability to pay her what she's worth (in dollars, not cards).

As luck would have it, she's going to be in NYC for the National Stationery Show. So, if you're in the stationery industry and would like to meet with Jean to offer her some advice about breaking into the business, or better yet, offer her a high-paying job as a buyer or sales manager or something similar, shoot us an email to info@oldtomfoolery.com, and we'll put you two in touch.

Consider this one of her glowing job references.

Breaking news: We're moving to Minnesota!

2010-05-12T00:27:00.000-07:00

That's right. We're leaving this...

for this.

We must be nuts.

Luckily, Minnesota is home to lots of great family and friends, fried cheese curds, and hopefully a soon-to-be-discovered, spacious new World Headquarters for Old Tom Foolery.

Our goal is to have a Minneapolis address by August. We'll keep you posted on how things are progressing. Until then, we'll still be open for business here in SF, so keep those orders coming!

Break out the bubbly!

2010-04-28T23:46:00.000-07:00

We're thrilled to have won our first-ever piece of hardware in the first-ever Trendy Awards!

The "Melee" birthday card from our Headlines Collection was named Best Greeting Card, and we're so excited, we're scared:

Thanks to everyone who voted for us, and to Stationery Trends magazine for putting together such a great competition. Check out all the winners below:

And the winner is...

2010-04-12T08:41:00.000-07:00

...hopefully Old Tom Foolery.

In the past two weeks, we've been lucky enough to be nominated for a couple of the greeting card industry's biggest awards: The Trendys and the LOUIEs.

We had two cards voted into the top ten for the first-ever Trendy Awards, which is sponsored by Stationery Trends magazine. If you're involved in the greeting card industry in any capacity (as a store owner, buyer, sales rep, blogger, fan, etc.), please vote right this very second for our Headlines Collection card pictured below. (You'll have to register to vote if you haven't already--but trust us, it's quick and painless.) Voting closes on Saturday, April 17.

We're also thrilled to be nominated for three LOUIE Awards this year--in the Rising Star, Superbly Stated, and Everyday categories. Last year, we were the Susan Lucci of the LOUIEs, failing to win in any of the five categories in which we were nominated. Let's hope the second time's a charm.

Damn you, Marky Mark, you've done it again.

2010-03-30T00:16:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official. We here at Old Tom Foolery are hooked on the new HBO series How To Make It In America, which, like Entourage, lists Marky Mark Wahlberg as its executive producer.

As a human being, Wahlberg seems like a cocky meathead incapable of anything but lifting weights and modeling underpants. But as a producer, Sweet Jeebus does he have a knack for putting his money behind some damn good shows.

How To Make It In America is a fresh, stylish series about two aspiring entrepreneurs trying to start their own denim brand in New York City. It's impossible not to root for these guys. Their fierce independent spirit reminds us exactly why we started our own business--because it's an adventure. It's all about following your folly (even when you have no idea what you're doing), and trying to enjoy the roller coaster ride along the way.

The show also happens to have a contagiously awesome, retro-sounding theme song by Aloe Blacc, which you can download for free here.

Crank it up and just try not to move your pelvis. We dare you.

This is just a great idea.

2010-02-23T11:55:00.000-08:00

Move over, TinyURL. This company is way more awesome, as evidenced by their hilarious tagline: "Don't just shorten your URL. Make it suspicious and frightening."

Via the amazing Cabell Harris.

Sad news

2010-02-21T13:07:00.000-08:00

This past week, two of our favorite Minneapolis retailers--Patina and Shoppe Local--were burned down in a fire that destroyed a total of five small businesses. Luckily no one was seriously injured, but the damage appears to be extensive. Shoppe Local had only just recently opened, and was an offshoot of the popular Patina chain of boutiques. We were lucky enough to visit both stores while we were home in Minneapolis for the holidays and were so impressed by the amazing collection of unique cards and gifts--not to mention the friendly staff--that we wrote a gushing post about them on this very blog. Our hearts go out to all the people who were affected, and we wish them the very best in their rebuilding efforts.

Photo by Jeff Wheeler, Minneapolis Star Tribune

Man Babies

2010-02-03T09:55:00.000-08:00

Men and babies. Whose heads are reversed. What could be better? Check them all out here.

Good one, McDonald's.

2010-01-27T21:08:00.000-08:00

Ha ha. Nice try, McDonald's. You don't really expect us to believe we're supposed to snack (as in "between meals") on a Big Mac disguised as a wrap, do you?

Above: The ridiculous Mac Snack Wrap.

This can't be real, can it? Tell me this isn't real.

Magnum, P.I., is that you?

2010-01-25T16:32:00.000-08:00

Stumbled across this mysterious place the other day while we were in Potrero Hill. Gotta love San Francisco.

Retailer Spotlight: Shoppe Local

2010-01-19T10:45:00.000-08:00

While back in Minneapolis for the holidays, we had the pleasure of checking out an awesome new boutique called Shoppe Local. A spin-off of the equally awesome Twin Cities-based Patina chain, Shoppe Local features an eclectic mix of products with local roots. (Joel grew up in Minnesota, and will always be a Minnesotan at heart.)

During our visit, we picked up this inspiring book showcasing hand-lettered typography called Hand Job: A Catalog of Type by Michael Perry:

And this great wood sign by St. Paul designer William Dohman to hang in our office:

It was fun to see our cards displayed among such cool stuff from other homegrown artists. If you live in Minneapolis, Shoppe Local is definitely a great place for one-of-a-kind finds.

We're with COCO

2010-01-13T10:34:00.000-08:00

Conan O'Brien does it his way. You've gotta respect that. His classy letter to the "People of Earth" proves his pen is mightier than NBC's sword.

He's better off at Fox anyway.

Image via Sir Mike of Mitchell.

Go team!

2010-01-12T16:56:00.000-08:00

One of the funny things about owning a business is that you end up on some super random mailing lists. Case in point: We just got an awesome wholesale catalog from some business called Victory Corps: Flags, Floats & Events. Not only is it chock full of parade-float decorations (for all those parades we're in), but it also has flags. Specifically, "spirit" flags. Which leads me to the point of this post: Check out the picture of the overzealous guy hoisting this giant spirit flag:

Take a closer look:

Isn't he a little old to be the poster boy for school spirit?? And why is he all by himself? Where's the rest of the student section?

Reminds me of Will Ferrell's character, Frank the Tank, in Old School: "C'mon, we're going streaking! Everybody's doing it!" And like poor Frank the Tank, it looks he, too, is flying solo.

Ten bucks says this guy works for Victory Corps: Flags, Floats & Events putting together their catalog. They needed a product shot for the spirit flag but had no budget to hire a real model, so he's like, "Fuck it, I'll do it."

Which I guess makes him the epitome of team spirit, after all.

Hot off the press!

2010-01-11T00:08:00.000-08:00

The hi-larious winning card from our "Finish the Footnote" contest is now for sale. To get yours, click here.

Miniature Herb Brooks

2010-01-09T15:06:00.000-08:00

If you ever saw that movie Miracle (about the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team's "Miracle on Ice"), you'll love this. Even if you didn't, you'll love it. This kid is awesome:

And for shits and giggles, here's the original scene starring Captain Ron's Kurt Russell:

How candy canes came to be

2009-12-24T08:15:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Perideau Designs interview

2009-12-23T09:58:00.000-08:00

Bridgett from Perideau Designs was kind enough to interview us for her wonderful stationery/design blog. You can check out the Q and A here.

The Perideau Designs blog is a big source of creative inspiration for us, so we're honored that she chose to feature us. Thanks, Bridgett!

Bazaar Bizarre SF, more bodacious than bizarre

2009-12-21T12:18:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we attended the Bazaar Bizarre craft fair in Golden Gate Park, which we've been wanting to check out for several years now. Even though this show is located less than a mile from OTF headquarters, it's always been held around Thanksgiving, conflicting with our annual pilgrimage to Toledo. But the show was a bit later this year, so we stopped by and were not disappointed. It gave us a chance to connect with our friends at The Frantic Meerkat and The Mincing Mockingbird, as well as Claudia Reyes of b Green design, whose awesome wood-panel trees are shown below. If you're in the SF area around Thanksgiving-time next year, we definitely recommend checking it out.

Mistletoe Madness

2009-12-06T15:03:00.000-08:00

When you think of mistletoe, you probably think of sweet, heartwarming images like Mommy kissing Santa Claus. If only you knew where that mistletoe came from.

Our undercover cameras caught this mistletoe delivery van dropping off a shipment of the green stuff at our local hardware store. Apparently the mistletoe trade is run by an underground network of sketchy, modern-day pirates.

Smooching under the mistletoe will never be the same again.

It’s the little things that count.

2009-11-29T21:27:00.000-08:00

We here at Old Tom Foolery are suckers for the details. We love it when a person or company puts in that little extra effort to make something surprising out of something ordinary. It doesn’t have to be over-the-top or crazy. Sometimes a subtle piece of creativity is all it takes to break through the blah. We’re always trying to think of simple ways to do unexpectedly cool things for our customers, and we want to make an effort to notice when other people do it, too.

A few weeks ago, I ordered a CD online from an independent music distributor called CD Baby. After I made my payment, I got a confirmation email from the company. This easily could have been another boring piece of communication, but as you can see here, it wasn’t:

Somebody put some thought into this thing, and it shows. Not only did it make me chuckle when I least expected it, but it also made me want to write this post to tell people about CD Baby and how cool it is.

See, a little extra effort goes a long way. Kudos to the gang at CD Baby.

P.S. If you want to be instantly transported to a middle-of-nowhere dive bar with pedal-steel music twanging from a dusty old jukebox, buy this CD from Zoe Muth and The Lost High Rollers right now. Think Emmylou Harris, but with less creepy gray hair. Really, really good stuff.

May we all live to be 100

2009-11-18T23:07:00.000-08:00

OTF is taking a short break for the next week because we're headed to Toledo for our Grandma Clara's 100th birthday party. Grandma is still very much full of life and loves the following things more than anything else:

1) Her family
2) Playing solitaire on her computer
3) Playing bingo at her nursing home

Grandma pretty much cleans house every time she plays bingo. She treasures her bingo prizes, which she calls "gadgets." They line almost every shelf in her room. And since she knows we have a greeting card business, she's always giving us her latest gadgets and encouraging us to sell them along with our cards. So, in honor of her 100th birthday, we've set up a shop specifically for her winnings. It's called Grandma Clara's Bingo Bonanza!, and you can check it out here. Be sure to check back often, as every time we come back from Toledo, we'll probably have more gadgets to add to the shop.

We'd like to sign off this post with some pictures of Grandma Clara, and her signature sign-off, "Have fun!"

Grandma and Grandpa at their wedding

Holiday cards! Get yer holiday cards!

2009-11-14T12:40:00.000-08:00

It's that time of the year again. Get ready for envelope licking, hand cramps, and flipping through the trusty old address book. Old Tom Foolery is your source for both sarcastic and non-sarcastic holiday greetings this year. You can find our holiday Footnotes Collection cards here, available as individual cards or bargain boxed sets. And this year we're also offering some limited-edition, non-offensive cards on our Etsy shop. That's where we sell short-run goodies like seasonal items and custom letterpress cards. But we only have a few of these items in stock, so if you snooze, you just might looze!

We're big in Europe

2009-11-10T21:41:00.000-08:00

It's always exciting when we come across blog posts about our cards. Especially when they come from other parts of the world. Although we have no idea what these posts are saying, we can only hope they're not hating on us.

Can any of you cunning linguists out there help us decipher these?
(click images to enlarge)

Log roller

2009-11-04T08:00:00.000-08:00

Check out this unique interpretation of woodblock printing from artist Bryan Nash Gill. Such a simple, cool idea, and the results are amazing.

Via Ashes & Milk.

A Q&A with OTF

2009-11-01T20:57:00.000-08:00

Old Tom Foolery was recently featured on Letter Paper Flower, the fantastic new blog of floral designer Megan Dempsey. If you’re in the Bay Area, give Megan a ring the next time you need a fresh floral arrangement. And while you’re on her blog, check out her weekly feature “Flowers Inspired By…” where she creates arrangements based on readers’ submissions. A very cool idea.

Thanks, Megan, for taking the time to interview us.

And the winner is…

2009-10-30T15:01:00.000-07:00

First of all, thanks again to everyone who entered our “Finish the Footnote” contest. So many of these lines would make great cards, but in the end, there could only be one winner. And so, without further ado, the lucky winner of $100 and greeting-card immortality is (drum roll, please)…

Dan Eveland with his spot-on, pop-culture-tastic entry:

Congratulations, Dan! While it was a difficult decision, this line just had all the right stuff. It’s funny, it’s quick, it’s timely, it’s original, and it’s giveable for all sorts of “Cheer up” occasions—from being laid off, to breaking up with your girlfriend or boyfriend, to not getting a job offer, to battling Swine Flu, you name it. Whether you’re a Republican, a Democrat, an Independent, or an Indifferent, this card still works. The bottom line is that a good “Cheer up” card needs to make the recipient chuckle and forget their woes—if only for a split-second—and Dan’s line does just that.

We couldn’t close this contest without giving props to some of our favorite honorable mentions. Some of these lines were oh-so-close to winning, and some were just so awesomely random that they deserved a wider audience. I wish we could afford to give Benjamins to everyone, but instead, you’ll have to settle for a free card from our online store. If your name is on the list below, just email us at info@oldtomfoolery.com with your mailing address and free card selection. It’s the least we can do.

Honorable Mention “Cheer up” entries:

Cheer up*
* Put your big girl panties on and deal with it.
- Fiona Jeffries

Cheer up.*
*Newborns are supposed to look like that.
- Robert Mahar, Mahar Dry Goods

Cheer up.*
*Go to the Chinese buffet and order Pepsi.
- Ali McCormack

Cheer Up*
*McDonald's is always hiring.
- Jessica Morrison

Cheer up*
*Or shut up.
- Katy Jamison

Cheer up*
*Or I’ll punch you in the nuts.
- Nikki Lott, Badder Homes & Gardens

Cheer Up*
*There will be other, once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.
- Jasmine So

Cheer up.*  
*You could be a quadriplegic midget under house arrest for molesting adolescent helper monkeys.
- Michael Grozik

Cheer up*
*Motherfucker.
- Robert Kastigar

Honorable Mention “Cheers” entries:

Cheers.*
*To what again?
- Rich Garbarino

Cheers.*
*Creating a Harmless Environment to Enjoy Responsible Snorkeling.
- Estelle VanderHeide

Cheers*
*Why can’t those goddamn British just say goodbye?
- Erin Rosenberg, Paper & Grace

Cheers*
*Let’s raise our glasses…and lower our standards.
- Kristyn Davidson & Becky Oliver, Olivers Twist

Cheers*
*And thank you for this excuse to get plastered.
- Kristen Gough

Cheers.*
*I’ll drink to anything but I’m sure you did something marvelous.
- Liz Macpherson & Ami Murphy, Mac & Murphy

Thanks for playing, everyone! We had a blast!

Old Tom Foolery's Sale of the Century

2009-10-30T12:18:00.000-07:00

Purchase any three cards or three boxed sets from our online store and we’ll give you a fourth style for free. Just let us know which additional style or boxed set you’d like by writing it in the "message to buyer" section on the PayPal checkout page. Sale ends December 15th, 2009. Go nuts!

Actual hate mail, Volume 1

2009-10-23T18:30:00.000-07:00

We realize our cards aren’t for everybody (in fact, that’s kinda the point). Some people aren’t familiar with the concept of sarcasm, and from time to time these Debbie Downers feel the need to let us know about it. So, in this ongoing series called “Actual hate mail,” we’d like to share some of our favorite angry emails with you.

This one’s from a person who thinks we hate babies. Enjoy.

"Too bad kids are such a pain in the ass"? This particular card is insulting and self-centered. I assume the person who thought this up was the "perfect child"? Children are gifts from God. If you feel children are a "pain in the ass," then I hope you don't have any children.

Thanks for the email, Anonymous Fun Person! And a good day to you, too!

What do you get when you mix Beyonce with the "Masturbating Bear" from Conan O'Brien?

2009-10-20T22:22:00.000-07:00

This guy.

1,000 thank yous

2009-10-18T12:07:00.000-07:00

Wow. We’re overwhelmed (in a good way) by all the great entries we received for our “Finish the Footnote” contest. You all are some funny people. We ended up with hundreds of submissions, and aside from a couple of lines that made us go “WTF?!”, almost all of them are serious contenders. We’ve definitely got our work cut out for us in the next week or so as we try to choose a winner.

Thanks to everyone who participated. Stay tuned as we announce the winner (and likely some runners-up) on October 30.

Contest reminder

2009-10-14T21:35:00.000-07:00

Only one more day to submit your footnote entry for a chance to win $100. Entries will be accepted through October 15, 2009. More info on the contest here.

Here are the two writing prompts:

The winner will be announced right here on October 30th.

May the funniest person win.

One funny effer: The bald guy from Bald Guy Greetings

2009-10-08T19:38:00.000-07:00

If you’ve seen his cards, you know he’s funny. But the crazy thing about Ian Kalman of Bald Guy Greetings is that he’s that funny all the time. Everything he says. Everything he texts. Every status update he posts. Every minute of every day, he’s cracking jokes. Imagine a bald Rodney Dangerfield, but alive. (His business partner/illustrator extraordinaire Sean Farrell is no slouch either. The two of them together are a regular Abbott & Costello.)

Aside from being funny, though, they’re also genuinely nice guys. When we were starting up Old Tom Foolery, Ian was like a big brother to us, giving us helpful business advice that saved us a lot of frustrating trial and error.

He recently gave us an MTV Cribs-style tour of Bald Guy Greetings’ impressive new headquarters in San Francisco, and it was encouraging for a couple fellow cardmakers like us to see how well BGG is doing. They deserve all their success. Their shit is fun-ny.

But enough gushing (they’re our competitors, for chrissakes). Check ‘em out for yourself.

Holy shit, we’re in the Library of Congress.

2009-10-06T22:20:00.000-07:00

Yep, you read that right. Old Tom Foolery greeting cards can now be found at the largest, most famous library in the world—the Library of Congress. Thanks to Meryl Hooker, our rockstar sales rep in Washington, D.C., our cards now sit in their rightful place among such legendary historical artifacts as the Gutenberg Bible and original manuscripts from George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln. (Well, technically, our cards are in the Library of Congress Gift Shop, but hell, that’s close enough for us.)

How cool is that?

A truly remarkable mashup: Handerpants

2009-10-04T22:08:00.000-07:00

Now this is a product that doesn’t disappoint. We recently picked up a pair of these puppies to give to our irony-loving artist friend Matt Cella for his birthday.

First of all, we love the fact that someone had the idea to make underpants for your hands. But even more impressive is the fact that they actually went ahead and made them. How many times do hilarious ideas die because either a) we talk ourselves out of them, or b) we lack the discipline to bring them to life? Kudos to the crazy geniuses at Archie McPhee who made Handerpants happen. So stupid, yet so awesome. Well done.