Blog

Happy New Year!

Abigail Darling
Friday, December 30th 11:55am

The illustrator Charlotte Becker excelled at depicting adorable babies and children in a sentimental style.

From The Green Tiger's Image Vault: Washington State

Abigail Darling
Thursday, December 22nd 1:39pm

To wind up, for now, our state travel decals we come home to Washington and this very fine salmon.

From The Green Tiger's Image Vault: New Mexico Travel Decal

Abigail Darling
Wednesday, December 21st 6:04pm

Today we're sharing an image from the Southwestern United States. Enjoy!

From The Green Tiger's Image Vault: Mississippi

Abigail Darling
Monday, December 12th 3:11pm

This charming image is a travel decal for Mississippi. This pair of feet and glass of iced tea embodies the relaxation and hospitality that the South always seems to offer the traveler. Would it be too much to hope that the spirit of Mark Twain is aboard that steamboat on the mighty Mississippi?

From The Green Tiger's Image Vault: Iowa Travel Decal

Abigail Darling
Thursday, December 8th 12:33pm

Today we’re sharing another of our state travel decals, this one from the great state of Iowa. Unlike luggage labels, of which we have an even more substantial collection, these stickers were meant to be affixed to cars. These beautiful stickers are a reminder of that wonderful tradition - the great American road trip. Every state has its icons, whether they be animals, human, symbol (Texas Lone Star) or in this case agricultural.

From The Green Tiger's Image Vault: Minnesota Travel Decal

Abigail Darling
Thursday, December 8th 12:03pm

The Green Tiger's Image Vault has been pretty stingy lately, and for that we do apologize. But hopefully this lovely lady representing the Minnehaha Falls of Minnesota will make up for his silence. We have a lovely collection of these American travel decals, from nearly every state of our great land and even a few from Canada.

Thank you Mary Faria and Jon Anderson @ Simon & Schuster!!

Christina Darling
Tuesday, September 20th 4:42pm
We wanted to give a special thanks to Mary Faria and Jon Anderson at Simon and Schuster for enabling the Green Tiger’s return home. Without them, it would not have been possible, and it enhances all of the Laughing Elephant as well as the Green Tiger’s original founders who now get to gaze on him [...]

The Green Tiger Arrives In Seattle

Abigail Darling
Wednesday, August 31st 2:51pm

Last week we told you that our Green Tiger was on our way home, and he's arrived! He seems a little cranky, but is still very beautiful. We've unpacked him and are thinking about where to best show him off.

Autumn Fair International in Birmingham U.K. September 4

Abigail Darling
Tuesday, August 30th 6:12pm
Wholesale customers in the U.K. and Europe, come see us at the Autumn Fair International September 4 – 7. We’ll be in the Booth Booth # 4_B42A and will have lots of great new products and show specials to share with you. We always love to meet our customers in person!

From the Green Tiger's Image Vault: Harry Rountree

Abigail Darling
Friday, August 26th 12:27pm

These bunnies learning valuable life skills is from Harry Rountree (1878-1950) a British illustrator with a particular skill for portraying animals.

A Green Tiger's Journey …

Abigail Darling
Monday, August 22nd 2:15pm

Once upon a time there was a beautiful green tiger. He lived in San Diego, and then one day he moved to Manhattan! It was the eighties, when lots of us did crazy stuff. Now he's on his way back to his old family, who now lives in Seattle.

From the Green Tiger's Image Vault: Jack Orr

Abigail Darling
Friday, August 19th 6:54pm

This nautical offering from illustrator Jack Orr has the evocative title "Speed, Sail and Spray." Jack was one of three brothers who were all fine children's book illustrators, the others were Monro Orr and Stewart Orr.

From the Green Tiger's Image Vault: Kestos Swimwear

Abigail Darling
Thursday, August 4th 12:14pm

These French bathing beauties are from an advertisement for the Kestos company, a pioneer in the field of foundation garments and swimwear.

San Francisco Gift Fair Begins This Saturday August 6

Abigail Darling
Monday, August 1st 2:18pm
Wholesale customers, come see us at the San Francisco Gift Fair August 6 – 9. We’ll be at Moscone Center – Booth #1945 and will have lots of great new products and show specials to share with you. We always love to meet our customers in person!

From the Green Tiger's Image Vault: Joyce L. Brisley

Abigail Darling
Monday, August 1st 2:15pm

This charming illustration is from the English illustrator Joyce L. Brisley. Her sister Nina and Ethel were also artists. The Brisleys are yet another example of a trio of illustrating siblings along with the Orrs (Stewart, Jack and Monro) and of course the Robinsons (Charles, Thomas and William).

From the Green Tiger's Image Vault: E. Dorothy Rees

Abigail Darling
Tuesday, July 26th 11:01am

This charming image is titled "No meringue for him!" and from one of the many illustrators of whom we know only their name: E. Dorothy Rees.

Announcing: From the Green Tiger's Image Vault

Abigail Darling
Friday, July 22nd 2:54pm

Here at The Laughing Elephant we have so many beautiful, compelling and just plain odd images in our library that not all of them fit into a commercial context. Thus we’ve decided to start sharing them with you via a new blog feature: From The Green Tiger’s Image Vault. Once or twice a week (or more) we’ll post an image from our library, and say a little about it. We’re really looking forward to digging into the bottom drawers of our map cases and climbing onto ladders to look at our dustiest books. We hope you’ll enjoy it as well.

California Gift Show Begins Tuesday July 19

Abigail Darling
Thursday, July 14th 1:20pm
Wholesale customers, come see us at the California Gift Show July 19-25. We’ll be in the LA Gift Mart – Flemming Chalef Showroom Ste. #846 and will have lots of great new products and show specials to share with you. We always love to meet our customers in person!

Atlanta Gift Show Begins Friday July 15

Abigail Darling
Thursday, July 14th 1:18pm
Wholesale customers, come see us at the The Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market July 15-19. We’ll be in Booth #103 and will have lots of great new products and show specials to share with you. We always love to meet our customers in person!

Chicago Gift Show Begins Friday July 30

Abigail Darling
Thursday, June 30th 3:30pm
Wholesale customers, come see us at the The Chicago Gift Show July 30 – August 2. We’ll be at Chicago Market 8, Booth 3086 and will have lots of great new products and show specials to share with you. We always love to meet our customers in person!

Dallas Gift Show Begins This Thursday June 23

Abigail Darling
Monday, June 20th 9:30am
Wholesale customers, come see us at the FINDS Dallas Temp Show June 23-26. We’ll be in Booth #3312 and will have lots of great new products and show specials to share with you. We always love to meet our customers in person!

Living in the Future at the Independent U.K.

Abigail Darling
Thursday, May 26th 1:51pm
Our look back at looking forward, Living in the Future, was featured in the Independent U.K.’s Life and Style section on Sunday. It’s a great article about Mr. Hoyle and his fascinating book.

London and Paris Buying Expedition

Matthew Calkins
Sunday, May 22nd 10:00pm

We recently returned from a fabulous trip to the street markets of London and Paris, as well as our most favorite street market Porte de Clignancourt which is such a various and potentially magical place, I recommend it to any and all travelers to Paris it runs year round and it is impossible not to find something you have been needing your whole life, and just didn’t know it!

Green Tiger’s Shakespeare has arrived for you to enjoy!

Christina Darling
Wednesday, April 27th 8:04am
Yesterday our anthology of Green Tiger’s favorite Shakespeare plays, as re-told by E. Nesbit especially for children, arrived at our warehouse and is ready to go! We found it often impossible in reading Shakespeare plays out loud to kids, for them not to get lost in the unfamiliar language, (well not just children, I have [...]

Living in the Future at grain edit

Abigail Darling
Wednesday, March 30th 2:54pm
Our super groovy title Living in the Future was featured at grain edit. We’re so pleased that this wonderful book is getting the exposure it deserves. Thanks grain edit!

Portland Gift Show Begins Saturday 3/19

Abigail Darling
Monday, March 14th 11:01am
Wholesale customers, come see us at the Portland Gift Show March 19 – 21. We’ll be in Booth #705 and will have lots of great new products and show specials to share with you. We always love to meet our customers in person!

We Got Mentioned on Design*Sponge!

Christina Darling
Wednesday, March 2nd 9:43pm
Our dear friend Lia, sent us this feature of one of our French Notebooks (also known as Cahiers) on their “on my bookshelf” section of their blog! We were so excited and flattered as we admire design*sponge and their seeking out of beautiful design to feature on their website and share it with the world. [...]

Spring Show in Birmingham U.K. 2/6 – 2/11

Abigail Darling
Wednesday, February 2nd 10:14am
Wholesale customers in the U.K. and Europe, come see us at the Spring Fair International February 6 – 11. We’ll be in the Booth # 4_D67A and will have lots of great new products and show specials to share with you. We always love to meet our customers in person!

Seattle Gift Show starts Saturday 2/5

Abigail Darling
Wednesday, February 2nd 10:12am
Wholesale customers, come see us at our hometown Seattle Gift Show February 5 – 8. We’ll be at Booth # 1530-1532 and at AJ & Associates Booth # #2144 & 2245 and will have lots of great new products and show specials to share with you. We always love to meet our customers in person!

New York Gift Fair Begins Sunday 1/30

Abigail Darling
Thursday, January 27th 6:42pm
Wholesale customers, come see us at the New York International Gift Fair January 30 – February 3. We’ll be in the Javits Center – Booth # 7551 and will have lots of great new products and show specials to share with you. We always love to meet our customers in person!

California Gift Show This Weekend!

Abigail Darling
Friday, January 21st 11:48am
Wholesale customers, come see us at the California Gift Show January 18 – 24. We’ll be at the LA Gift Mart – Flemming Chalef Showroom Booth #846 and will have lots of great new products and show specials to share with you. We always love to meet our customers in person!

Atlanta Gift Show Starts This Friday 1/14

Abigail Darling
Monday, January 10th 12:13pm
Wholesale customers, come see us at the Atlanta Gift Show January 14 – 18. We’ll be at America’s Mart – Building 3 Floor 4 Booth #109 and will have lots of great new products and show specials to share with you. We always love to meet our customers in person!

San Francisco Gift Show This Weekend 1/8 – 1/11

Abigail Darling
Tuesday, January 4th 12:13pm
Wholesale customers, come see us at the San Francisco Gift Show January 8 – 11. We’ll be in Booth#1138-1237 and will have lots of great new products and show specials to share with you. We always love to meet our customers in person!

Laughing Elephant at the BBC!

Abigail Darling
Thursday, December 23rd 6:09pm
We’re so proud of the brilliant Geoffrey Hoyle, and ourselves ourselves of course, for this article at the BBC News Magazine about our reprint of his Living In The Future. Congraulations Mr. Hoyle!

Put on your heat-sensitive jumpsuit and get out your vision phone

Abigail Darling
Friday, November 12th 12:26pm
We are delighted to announce the the arrival of the much anticipated reprint of Geoffrey Hoyle’s 1972 cult classic 2011: Living in the Future. It is a delightful look back at looking forward. Thanks to one of Hoyle’s prescient predictions – “Even if you are at home by yourself, you can still talk to your [...]

The Decorative Tape Has Arrived!

Abigail Darling
Tuesday, October 12th 3:32pm
Should we enhance our journal with Provençal vines? Or perhaps just add a tasteful stripe of Egyptian motifs to that boring looking package we’re sending to Aunt Margaret for her birthday? What is that silly Laughing Elephant talking about now? A new product has arrived at our warehouse, one that we have long been impatient [...]

A stylish new coloring book has arrived

Abigail Darling
Thursday, September 9th 1:32pm
A new coloring book has arrived at Laughing Elephant, and it is très chic. Album à Colorier is a reprint of a treasure picked up at a Paris flea market. We think it would make a delightful antidote to back-to-school doldrums.

Tags as shopping tools and adventures

Abigail Darling
Thursday, September 2nd 3:09pm
I had a great question from a customer the other day about our tags, which is a list included at the bottom of every product page linking to other products. Some are pretty self-explanatory – such as illustrators and authors. But others are more esoteric. We try to include tags for customers looking for certain [...]

2011 Calendars have arrived!

Abigail Darling
Tuesday, August 31st 1:35pm
The Laughing Elephant is very happy to announce the arrival of calendars for 2011. We are offering 12 different wall calendars built around themes such as Oz, Alice in Wonderland, Teatime and more. See all the images and details here.

California Gift Show

Abigail Darling
Sunday, July 11th 5:10pm
Just a quick note to let everyone know we’re at the California Gift Show July 16-19. Come by and see our new products and take advantage of our show special. LA Convention Center Space 2300. California Gift Show

Weird & Wonderful reviewed by Publisher’s Weekly

Abigail Darling
Saturday, July 10th 5:54pm
We are thrilled to share a positive review of our new title Weird & Wonderful from the latest issue of Publisher’s Weekly. It isn’t available yet online through Publisher’s Weekly but venerable independent booksellers Powell’s Books has the scoop.

Weird and Wonderful reviewed by 5 minutes for Books!

Christina Darling
Friday, July 2nd 2:17pm
We are so pleased, that this super useful and entertaining blog, gave Weird and Wonderful such a glowing review, thanks 5 minutes for Books. Check out the link below to see the review and also take a look around the various 5 minute sites, they are great! 5 Minutes for Books

It really is as Easy as Pie

Abigail Darling
Tuesday, June 29th 1:15pm
It is as Easy as Pie to win a copy of our delicious new book on vintage pie recipes. Please visit our Facebook page. to find out more!

Catalog in the works

Christina Darling
Tuesday, June 15th 3:25pm
Our new catalog is in it’s final stages of production, and every one of us, (even the dogs) are going to breath easier once it is done… It always seems like an impossibly gigantic task at the start but so satisfying at the finish. We hope our new offerings i.e. wall calendars, decorative tape, etc. [...]

Loads of new labels!

Christina Darling
Tuesday, June 8th 2:37pm
We just returned from the hot part of Southern California, where we went on an amazing paper buying trip. Even though we have in the collection, hundreds of vintage luggage labels from every corner of the world, still more were discovered on this trip! Thanks Norm and watch out for new and different luggage label [...]

Visit from very honored guests

Christina Darling
Tuesday, April 20th 4:49pm
This last week we had a visit from our collaborators on a new product endeavor from Japan, Risa and Akira from Uniglo. It was a true joy to show such tasteful and nice people our collection. Also it was a great chance to whip our studio into tip top shape! Pictures to follow soon…

Spring Cleaning

Christina Darling
Wednesday, April 7th 2:43pm
Well it’s tax time and the spring solstice has come and gone, high time for a Spring Cleaning Sale! Jerry, Christina, Sandra and Harold (and the two Rotweillers of course, Zubiaga and Zulaica) are brainstorming this afternoon, so keep your eyes sharp for our much anticipated Spring Cleaning Sale!!!

Glen Baxter is a truly Wonderful (and Weird) artist his own self

Christina Darling
Tuesday, March 16th 3:37pm
As the release date draws near and we step up our efforts to get the word out about Weird and Wonderful, we are receiving the nicest quotes from artists we sent the proofs out too, as we admire the work they produce greatly and wanted to W & W with them. The latest and greatest [...]

Lunchbox magazine blog

Christina Darling
Tuesday, March 9th 10:20am
Lunchbox Magazine are some really nice folks we met at the Los Angeles Gift Show, they have an online magazine and a terrific blog, I really appreicate their top notch design and great product recommendations, check it out for yourself! Laughing Elephant our fave March 2010 Laughing Elephant is a publisher of books, gifts, and [...]

Easter Rabbit Postcard Book Contest

Abigail Darling
Monday, March 8th 2:19pm
We’re giving away three copies of our Easter Rabbit Postcard Book at our Facebook page. Come on over and tell us about your favorite Easter candy.

Tom Robbins thanks a million and a million again!

Christina Darling
Monday, March 8th 2:01pm
Well this morning I found on my desk a letter from “The Union of Mad Scientists” and It turned out to be even better than the intriguing senders name promised. It was a wonderful, flattering, fabulous beyond our wildest dreams quote for our upcoming title Weird and Wonderful. To quote Mr. Robbins “Thanks to Weird [...]

Picturing Jane Austen

Abigail Darling
Friday, March 5th 10:40pm
We’re planning several calendars for 2011, and one I’m working will use illustrations from the novels of Jane Austen. The images are largely from the late 19th to early 20th century and quite gentle in mood and color. This is a very different palette than the vivid Austen we have seen in so many recent [...]

Learning how to blog

Christina Darling
Friday, March 5th 3:25pm
Matt our web expert is here teaching Abigail and I some further fine points of blogging. If you would like leave a comment here on what kinds of things would you like to hear about on our blog? We do have our own partcular notions, but thought that letting our beloved customers have their say, [...]

Portland Gift & Accessories Show

Abigail Darling
Monday, February 22nd 5:49pm
We’re heading south for a few days for the Portland Gift & Accessories Show. February 27th – March 1, Booth 705 at the Oregon Convention Center. We’d love to meet you and tell you about our new products and show specials.

San Francisco International Gift Fair

Abigail Darling
Wednesday, February 3rd 10:42am
Come visit us beneath the busy streets of San Francisco at the San Francisco International Gift Fair. February 6th – 9th at the Moscone Center, Booth 1038. We’d love to meet you and tell you about our new products and show specials.

New York International Gift Fair

Abigail Darling
Sunday, January 31st 11:42am
Come see us at the Javits! We’re at the New York International Gift Fair January 31st through February 4th, Booth 1730. Come meet us, see our new products and take advantage of our show specials.

Seattle Gift Show

Abigail Darling
Thursday, January 21st 11:58am
We’re at the Seattle Gift Show January 23 – 26, Both 1530 and Paper Maven Showroom. Come see our new products and take advantage of show specials.

Would you like a free book?

Abigail Darling
Tuesday, January 19th 1:44pm
That is a silly question, isn’t it? We are having a little contest over on our Facebook page. Enter and you might win a copy of our beautiful new book of love poetry, I Love You. Good Luck!

California Gift Show

Abigail Darling
Friday, January 15th 6:59pm
Just a quick note to let everyone know we’re at the California Gift Show this weekend. Come by and see our new products! LA Convention Center Space 2000 LA Mart Space 846 California Gift Show

We may look old-fashioned …

Abigail Darling
Tuesday, December 22nd 6:05pm
But the Laughing Elephant is a modern pachyderm. Become a fan on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter. Stay tuned!

Welcome To The New Website Blog

Benjamin Darling
Monday, December 14th 6:02pm
Well, we are three days into the new site and things seem to be going very well. Lots of Christmas orders are coming in, so far without incident! There will be many improvements and refinements over the next weeks and months (and on into the future for that matter) and we welcome your input, corrective [...]

Working With Laughing Elephant

Matthew Calkins
Monday, December 14th 5:57pm
Hi, my name’s Matt and I am the web guy here at Laughing Elephant. The folks here have put a lot of work into this new website, and there’s a lot more work to come. One of the first things we talked about when I started working with them was “getting the data organized”. The [...]