More Notes on the Sidelines -- Booksellers' Top Picks

Though his critics might think that President George Bush is a joker, he's the ace of spades in the new Bush Cards -- a trio of entrepreneurs' answer to the Iraqi most-wanted deck, and a fast-selling new sideline.

BTW recently spoke to booksellers to find out which other sidelines were grabbing consumers' attention. Other notables mentioned were the whole line of retro-with-an-edge Anne Taintor products, the environmentally friendly Boku journals, and the classic Folkmanis puppets.

The new Bush Cards (look for contact information and Web site addresses below) are professionally printed playing cards depicting members of the Bush administration along with quotes, facts, and figures highlighting each person's dubious distinctions. The backs of the cards portray a smiling President Bush surrounded by a dollar sign, an oil well, missiles, and a pretzel. Other cards include the primary author of the Patriot Act, Viet Dinh, as the seven of clubs, who opined that "Libraries and bookstores should not be allowed to become safe havens for terrorists," and Gale Norton, secretary of the interior and the queen of spades, who has written about "a right to pollute." Of course, Dick Cheney, Condoleeza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, and Colin Powell's doozies are similarly portrayed in this carefully stacked deck.

The cards were created by three friends, Zach Levy, Ben Daily, and Ryan Deussing, who like many others, felt left in the dark by the rush to war, Levy told BTW, adding that the cards were his antidote to the political marketing being practiced in Washington. At the same time it was important to Levy that the cards were funny enough that even someone who might have voted for Bush could still appreciate them. "I wanted to make something people of all stripes could enjoy and not just preach to the converted."

Meanwhile, the playing cards are a cottage industry phenomenon and bookstores are stocking and restocking them. The small press buyer at St. Mark's Bookstore in Manhattan said that customers get "really, really excited about the cards and yell things like, These are the real criminals. They're a wonderfully shticky item. We adore them and they fly off the shelves. We sell about five to seven a day, which is really good for a small independent bookstore."

Magnets from the Anne Taintor line.

Another highly recommended and irreverent seller is the entire Anne Taintor line of note cards, coasters, candles, prints, mugs, etc. with campy retro images of 50s-era women with attitude. The ladies spout off zingy one-liners, like the haughty-looking redhead who quips, "You couldn't pay me to be twenty" or a ditzy Grace Kelly look-alike who innocently queries, "Has anyone seen my hormones?" Nancy Rutland of Bookworks in Albuquerque, New Mexico, told BTW about the line, mentioning that the artist Anne Taintor lives in New Mexico. Rutland said the items are a "perfect marriage of text and image and not what people expect. They make people, especially women, laugh. We've reordered many times, the magnets are particularly popular."

Rutland also reported that Boku Books do very well in her store The company uses a sustainable source for paper-making fiber called kenaf, a plant from the Mallow family. Rutland said she keeps the pocket-sized, various-colored notebooks (approximately 1-1/2" x 3") near the register. "They're selling great," she said.

The award-winning line of plush (mostly) animal puppets from Folkmanis, which is based in Emeryville, California, was established in the late 1960s when Judy Folkmanis began creating her first animal puppets for her kids. Folkmanis carries a mammoth selection of everything, from a black Labrador puppy to an iguana and tarantula puppet. There's also a soft book puppet that Publishers Weekly named the "Best of Show" at the 2002 BookExpo America, and a new line of finger puppets that are also selling well.

Bookseller Michele Cromer-Poire, co-owner of the Red Balloon Bookshop in Saint Paul, Minnesota, raved about the Folkmanis puppets. In fact, one was emceeing storytelling time at her store while she spoke with BTW on the phone. The Bear in a Sleeping Bag puppet was helping a staff member read Sandra Boynton's Pajama Time! (Workman Publishing Company) and pulling out various sleep-related items from his sleeping bag.

Cromer-Poire said that the Folkmanis line was her "best sideline. They're extremely high quality and reasonably priced. The animals are very realistic and work extremely well as a companion for storytelling. We love them and the customers keep coming back for more because they're so successful with kids."

Watch for more articles on sidelines in future issues of BTW. And if you have any sidelines you'd highly recommend, e-mail Karen Schechner at [email protected].