
All images are (C) Collection of Larry Seidman and are reproduced here with permission
If a picture is worth a thousand words then a gif is worth a thousand pictures! These animated gifs show the mechanisms behind the hand colored copper engravings of pull tab movable cards from the Biedermeier period 1815-1835. They were made in Europe primarily in Germany and France and England. Some are completely hand done in watercolor. Many were given out as greeting cards or the modern day equivalent of valentine cards.

A gif is basically a file format that shows animation on the web. The technique employed is rather labor intensive but provides a nice resolution to the cards. It gives a cleaner image than in a video.
Individual scans of the cards are taken sequentially by pulling the tab a little bit more each time. The technique utilized is similar to the stop-motion of the old Wallace and Gromit cartoons. The scans are edited and sequenced in Photoshop and then uploaded into the tumblr blog as a gif file.
I have collected these fragile cards for 25 years and have over 100 in my collection. I especially like the unique and elaborate mechanisms that never show up in book form. It is a miracle they have survived! Many have been restored (by reattaching the broken threads) by Robin Collins, giving new life to these superb mechanisms. Both she and I will be speaking at the Movable Book Society conference this September in Philadelphia so please come.
RELATED VIDEO


