The Ukrainian Gift shop also produced and sold pysanka postcards, all in a regular postcard format, beginning in the 1970s. The cards aren’t dated, so it’s hard for me to say exactly when they were produced and sold. The first three series were similar to the Surma cards in that they had six pysanky displayed in two rows of three, although they would occasionally throw in a more “artistic” arrangement.  The eggs were on a light (white or yellow), sometimes textured background.

The UGS eggs were almost all original UGS designs, diasporan in nature.  Most were fairly complex, original compositions, but UGS were known to adapt traditional designs by changing colors and adding design elements, particularly in their design book series, where simpler design were needed.  One design on these cards is taken directly from Elyjiw (Series 2, No. 47108, bottom row, middle egg), but it is one he labels “diasporan1.”

If you compare the cards pictured here to those in my albums, you’ll recognize quite a few–these and other pysanka cards were my “design book” when I was learning the art of pysankarstvo, and many of these pysanky also showed up in later UGS publications.

If you can find copies of these cards tucked away in some old Ukrainian shop., I would urge you to buy them–the patterns are lovely and quite worth making.  UGS no longer carries these cards, at least not in their on-line shop.  They might still have a few in their Minneapolis-area brick-and-mortar shop, so have a look if you’re ever there.

These cards are from UGS series 1, 2 and 3; all the identifying (and other) information below is from the ArtUkraine site, as I long ago glued the cards into an album, where I used them almost every time I made pysanky!  (One of the cards below is very low resolution, as I do not own the original, and had to find the card on line).

A Series of Postcards Published by The Ukrainian Gift Shop,
St. Anthony, Minnesota that Show

Ukrainian Easter Eggs,

decorated by Luba Perchyshyn
Delicate Treasures of Art
Traditional symbols of life intricately implanted on the eggs
in a process passed down through generations

 

Series 1 – a set of 6 cards
Ukrainian Gift Shop, Inc.
2422 Central Avenue, N.E.
Minneapolis, Minn. 55418-3787
(Printed In Color)

Series 2 – a set of 6 cards

Ukrainian Gift Shop, Inc.

2422 Central Ave. N.E.

Minneapolis, Minn. 55418-3787

(Printed In Color)

Series 3 – a set of 7 cards
Ukrainian Gift Shop, Inc.
2422 Central Avenue, N.E.
Minneapolis, Minn. 55418-3787
(Printed In Color)
(Made In U.S.A.)

(Note: the address on the cards above is an old one; contact information for UGS here.)

(To get a better view of any card, double-click on it.)

__________

1.  Most people use the term “diasporan” to refer to modern pysanky which are original designs but incorporate traditional motifs and other design elements.  Elyjiw photographed many collections of pysanky in North America, and used the term to also apply to any pysanka whose provenance he was not 100% certain of.