LOL decor – Kitsch Wooden Plaques from the 50s and 60s

If you love kitsch and souvenirs, vintage wooden plaques with snarky and/or sincere sentiments from the 50s, 60s and 70s must have a nook in your vintage heart. Made of cedar, pine or redwood and screen printed, they were a staple of gift shops in outdoorsy resort areas, usually displayed with small wooden houses filled with cones of pine incense and pillows stuffed with balsam needles that smelled like heaven. Bringing home a kitsch wooden plaque was an excellent way to remember your trip as well as add some personality to your decor.

Dig though I might, I have not been able to find anything other than sketchy hearsay info about the companies that made them.  There are a few names out there, including Bartsch Manufacturing Co., St. Paul, MN; Lakeside Novelties, Sheboygan, WI; Price Products, Boston, MA; and Treasure-Craft, Compton, CA. But try and dig deeper on any of them and there are virtually no business records. It’s likely that these signs were made many small manufacturers, who in turn sold them to wholesalers, who in turn sold them to gift shops. Very few of the finished products are marked or still have stickers.

There must have been some start to finish makers. But it would make sense that woodworking companies made the blanks and sold them to screen printing companies, similar to how china companies sold blanks to souvenir plate makers who added printed or decal images. It is frustrating to not be able to give credit where it’s due. Surely someone out there still has giftware catalogs from back them–it would be a service to vintage lovin’ humanity to scan and upload them for posterity.

One of my favorite things about these kitsch wooden plaques is how minimal the destination personalization is. Screen printers made big piles of a design, then personalized them for different resort areas with some kind of stamp as orders rolled in. The stamp is usually quite small. But it’s enough to make it a souvenir.

Most of these special treasures have witty poems, making them both visual and literary art objects. They come in many genres. It would be impossible to cover all of them, but we’ll hit some common ones, starting with a kitsch wooden plaque about the home.

The tidiness of the home is a popular theme. You may have seen this one: “Come In, Sit Down, Relax, Converse, Our House Doesn’t Always Look like This. Sometimes It’s Even Worse.” This Apology plaque is a nifty variation on that theme. Note the small Kingston, NY stamp in the upper right corner. Also note that the plaque made of multiple pieces of wood and has the sentiment on a raised panel, similar to two you haven’t scrolled down to yet. Can one assume they were made by the same company? Available from LoveModern on Etsy, $20.

Humor about wives and husbands is a huge genre. Some are ultra cringeworthy now. They were meant to be ironic and funny, but they also reflected thinking about the roles of men and women at the time.

This sentiment, with this exact wording, is by far the most popular of the husbands and wives kitsch wooden plaque genre, a sweeping generalization based exclusively on my personal observation. This one is particularly amusing because there are many household members who are “management.” Available from KitschyCollection on Etsy, $14.99

This assessment of relative cooking skills in the household brings both wit and function with two small hooks for keys. Someone brought this home from Longville, MN. Available from SoulshineVintageOH on Etsy, $16.

There’s a lot if innuendo packed into this Colorado kitsch wooden souvenir plaque. It’s sure to get a chuckle from everyone. The three piece plaque blank as well as the colors and illustrations look like the one from Kingston, NY.  Available from BrocanteSisters on Etsy, $15.

What a divine mix of kitschy humor and function, synchronizing activities with temperature and weather. The Sportsman Thermometer made it’s way home from Old Town Albuquerque, NM. Available from BrocadeTelegraph on Etsy, $40.

Another genre is the woman-centric plaque.

This declaration of the one and only queen of the kitchen that someone brought home from Yellowstone National Park was a wise purchase. Not only is it clear in message, it is also a functional key holder. Available from EllBellArt2Antiques on Etsy, $22.

This plaque is 100% influenced by the women’s liberation movement. There’s a mark on the back indicating it’s a souvenir from Hot Springs, AR. Available from MidWestMerc on Etsy, $30.

The “life is ironic” genre is full of gems.

Fishing is a ginormous topic for ironic kitsch wooden plaques, there could be a whole post devoted to just those. The economic breakdown on this plaque is hilarious. And it’s another treasure from Yellowstone. Guessing novelty plaques sold by the zillions at a big, majestic national park like Yellowstone. Who wouldn’t want a souvenir to remember the visit? Available from TheWildflowerJoy on Etsy, $29.

The illustrations and fabulous typography make this big shots plaque a [chef’s kiss]. Available from lookonmytreasures on Etsy, $15.

This plaque from Sequoia National Park, CA is absolutely true, but don’t tell any of my friends or acquaintances I said so. Likely made from redwood, this visitors plaque has fabulous illustrations and must have been made by the same company as the two other multi piece signs above. Available from NikNakNook on Etsy, $26.

Although I said these kitsch souvenirs were mostly sold at rustic places, this classic from Hollywood, CA proves me wrong. It’s not for sale though, it’s from the personal collection of Vintage Unscripted Pam, a three generation heirloom from her grandparents to her mom to her.

And finally, there are the heartfelt and sincere plaques…

…most of which are about Mother, Father, religion and home sweet home. This sweet rustic Mother plaque on a slice of pine must have been brought home from the Wisconsin Dells to a very special woman. Available from AmbassadorGrooviness on Etsy, $12.

Rustic wooden plaques are not the only kitsch souvenirs out there with poetic sentiments. Their cousins are the LOL metal trivet, which is equally rustic, and the decorative plate, which is a bit more elevated. I might have to write a post about them too, but I probably shouldn’t threaten you with a good time.

Do you have a treasured kitsch wooden plaque or other souvenir? Tell us about it in the comments. And if you know ANYTHING about a company that made them, leave us some details.