Barbi Sargent is the creator of Strawberry
Shortcake....
This is the first ever drawing of
Barbi Sargent's little darling Strawberry Shortcake . She was called Strawberry
Girl at the time. This was drawn in
1973.....
On July 1977 Barbi Sargent
received an assignment completed in early July 1977 and that she tendered to
American Greetings on July 7, 1977 four (4) "leader cards" depicting
the "Strawberry Shortcake" character in full color. (Leader cards are
used by AG for consumer test purposes.) To the right is one of those cards Barbi
Sargent turned in on that day. It was Rex Conner who requested Barbi to create
4 cards with a berryish outfit for the Mega Test Market. The first time the
public saw SSC in her new outfit was in the national test. The results were
huge ratings....
Above right
is a new drawing that was created by a hired American Greetings in house
artist (employee) who recreated Barbi's Character from Barbi Sargent's
sketch....
This was a common practice that was done at AG
where art was copied and changed by "in house" artist and also looks
of known characters created by big name artists.This info is from ex AG
employees who witnessed it first hand.....
Just for fun here is another side
by side :
Barbi Sargent's 1973 Strawberry Girl next to 1978 Strawberry
Shortcake
*Notice the dress style and sleeve
shape, hats design down to the little dots on the bonnets brim and strawberries
with dots on the hat, striped tights, and face. Even the hair is similar just
more blocky... Image was flipped Horizontal and altered by in house artists at
AG
.
Truth be told.....
Strawberry Shortcake was indeed a
major new character, we all know this is a fact.
Especially in hind sight.This
article is from USA Today approximately
1978. It shows
Tom Wilson on the left holding
Barbi Sargents very first drawing of Strawberry Shortcake Laurel Valentine from
1973 next to a card that the caption says the other Strawberry Shortcake card
to the right "evolved" from Barbis card. Let that sink in for a
moment.....
You can also read a recently rediscovered article from People Magazine
Who's Red and Sweet and Filthy Rich?
Strawberry Shortcake, Toyland's Newest
Tyke-Coon
There’s magic in the mark of the strawberry
Who’s the richest little girl in all the land? No, it’s not Little Orphan Annie, even with Daddy Warbucks paying the bills. Barbie? No way. Just as well, too, ’cause she spends all her time hanging around with that nerd Ken.
Brooke Shields? No, silly. Besides, Brooke isn’t even little anymore!
So who could it be? Why, Strawberry Shortcake, of course! You say you don’t know Strawberry Shortcake? How can this be? Anyone who gives gifts to kids knows who Strawberry Shortcake is. She’s that cute little girl who lives in Strawberryland and wears a little bonnet covered with strawberries. Usually little Ms. Shortcake is a doll with strawberry-red hair and skin that smells like—oh, yummy!—strawberries. But that’s not all that Strawberry Shortcake is. She is also a logo on sleeping bags. And wallpaper. And lamps. And T-shirts. And books. And greeting cards. And 677 other things.
Why? Because Strawberry Shortcake makes lots of people happy. And happy people like to buy dolls, sleeping bags, wallpaper, lamps, T-shirts and 679 other things. Strawberry Shortcake products grossed $100 million in 1980, the year she was born. That’s enough to buy 400 million packs of bubble gum! And last year she earned five times more. That’s enough to buy her very own MX missile! Isn’t it nice that she makes customers and manufacturers happy? And do you know the people she makes happiest of all? The ones who own stock in the American Greetings Corporation. That is the company that collects a royalty on every Strawberry Shortcake product. Eight months ago a share of American Greetings stock was worth $13. Last week it was worth $22. If you had bought shares eight months ago, think how happy you would be!
Best of all, Strawberry Shortcake herself always has a great time. That is because the sun always shines on Strawberryland. And she has so many friends to have fun with! One of her friends is Raspberry Tart. Another is a little boy named Huckleberry Pie. Then there is Tamale, who is a mole from Mexico. He sleeps under his sombrero all day. Isn’t that cute? But don’t think that Strawberry Shortcake’s life is all play and no work. “I looked in my pantry this morning and counted my jars of jam,” she says in one of the many books written about her. “I’m running very low. I’ll make more jams and jellies than I ever did before. There will be lots to sell at the market!”
Strawberry Shortcake learned all about marketing from her godfather. His name is Jack Chojnacki. You pronounce it “hoy-nof-ski.” Jack is 41. He is also co-president of Those Characters From Cleveland. This is a subsidiary of American Greetings that spends its time creating cute characters like Strawbery Shortcake and Holly Hobbie and Ziggy. After it invents all those cute characters, it licenses them to people who make dolls and sleeping bags and 682 other things. Jack is always looking for new cute characters to license. Jack believes in research. A few years ago Jack learned something very interesting from his research. Strawberries sell! On cards. On gift wrap. On party goods. Jack told his staff what he had learned.
Here is where we meet the swell folks who brought Strawberry Shortcake into the world. Rex Conners is 60. He is a staff art director. Muriel Fahrion is 36. She is a staff artist. Rex knew about an American Greetings card that was very popular. It was a picture of a cute little girl who wore an orange bonnet and held a daisy. Rex always wondered why so many people liked this card. Then he heard what Jack had found out about strawberries. Rex pulled out the card of the cute little girl with the orange bonnet. There were tiny strawberries on the bonnet! So Rex asked Muriel to redraw the cute little girl. He wanted something lots more strawberryish. He and Muriel also designed a doll. The doll was also very strawberryish. Then they showed Jack the drawings and the doll. Jack liked them. Jack liked them so much he took them to Bernie Loomis!
Bernie is president of General Mills’ toy division. Bernie has a good eye for toys. Bernie created the Six Million Dollar Man doll. It sold a lot. Then Bernie signed up Darth Vader, Yoda and the other Star Wars characters. They’ve sold even more! Right from the start Bernie had a good feeling about the designs that Jack brought him. “Bernie said, ‘This is going to be the next major phenomenon in merchandising,’ ” Jack recalls. “He agreed to put General Mills’ resources behind it.” And that is how Strawberry Shortcake got her sugar daddy.
Today the skies are blue over Strawberryland. Strawberry Shortcake rode her own float in the Macy’s parade in New York last Thanksgiving! Pat Boone invited her to appear with him on the Easter Seals telethon! She got to kiss Ronald Reagan at the White House Easter egg roll! She had her own TV special last month! It was her third! And Strawberry Shortcake is starring in $12 million worth of commercials and advertisements this year alone!
But everyone knows that Toyland can be scarier than the darkest forest. Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck are lurking. So are Snoopy, Big Bird and Miss Piggy. And don’t forget that horde of blue trolls from Europe, the Smurfs! But Jack thinks a little girl who is all sugar and no spice is safe from danger. “Our slogan is, ‘Strawberry Shortcake lets a little girl stay a little girl.’ We won’t put her face on baseball gloves or lingerie. Good ideas don’t die—they are killed by mismanagement.”
Strawberry Shortcake lets Jack take care of management. She dreams about other things. Now it is spring. Soon it will be summer. Then it will be winter. Winter is one of her favorite times. “There’s nothing as nice as a Christmas tree!” she says. And Strawberry Shortcake is really looking forward to this Christmas. She has a special surprise planned. The surprise is three brand-new dolls. Pick up any one of the dolls. Squeeze its little sides. See its little mouth pucker into a little kiss. Then put your nose next to the little mouth. Breathe in. Smell the apricot? Or the lemon? Or the strawberry? Now, isn’t that a peachy idea?
Trouble in Strawberryland...
Below is what above article reads (in
case it's too small )
Artist seeks financial 'fruits' of
Strawberry Shortcake
By STEVE FOGARTY
C-T Staff Writer
OLMSTED FALLS - Barbi Sargent has been
designing greeting cards for 18 of her 37 years and estimated she's created
4000-5000 cards.
Most of those were drawn for American
Greetings Corp. of Cleveland.
Last Monday,she filed suit in U.S.
District Court,charging the giant firm with copyright infringment and
misappropriation of a character she claimed American Greetings pirated from her
and re-named "Strawberry Shortcake".
In 1977 Ms. Sargent said she created
"Strawberry Girl" three years before American Greetings introduced
"Strawberry Shortcake" on everything from jewelry and
cereal to eyeglass cases,party
favors and wallpaper.
"She's the hottest thing they've
ever seen. We're not seeking an injunction or anything like that. We're not trying
to shut them down," Said Christopher B. Fagan the artist's Attorney.
"But by law, she's entitled
to the profits from the business (generated by sales of the character),"
he added.
The little rosy-cheeked girl dressed in
red and white accounted for estimated sales of $300 million- $500 million in
1981, according to American Greetings
spokes man John Hernandis.
The lawsuit contends profits from those
sales, are an estimated $100 million, but the company disputes that figure,
claiming actual profits totaled only $14.4 million from
product licensing fees in fiscal
1982.
THE FREELANCE artist , who along with her
husband operates an art studio in Olmsted Falls declined to discuss the case in
detail on the request of her attorney.
"I can say it's going to get
a whole lot hotter as it gets into court.We're very confident." She said
Although she designed her "Strawberry
Girl" while a freelancer. Ms. Sargent worked for American Greetings as a
full-time staff artist from 1964 -1967 after graduating from high school.
Although she has not published her
"Strawberry Girl" to date, Ms.Sargent received a copyright for her
work May 14.
The lawsuit, assigned to U.S. District
Judge Thomas D. Lambros, requests a jury trial. No date has been set for
pre-trial hearings.
*Caption below art reads.....
Olmsted Falls artist Barbi Sargent claims
in a lawsuit that American Greetings Corp. copied its current success
Strawberry Shortcake, left, from the character of Strawberry Girl, right, which
she says she created in 1977.
Then there was a court case....
Barbi SARGENT, Plaintiff,
v.
AMERICAN GREETINGS CORP.,
Defendant.
the full details of this copyright
infringement case is at this link below
Barbi Sargent Wins the Case
Read article below
I just love this part......
This is a quote from Rex's
deposition;
...When Barbi Sargents Lawyer
Chris Fagan asked Rex Conner what his response was after first seeing these 4
cards created by Barbi Sargent, Rex Conner said ;
" I was thrilled this was
exactly what I wanted !!! "Rex said ;"...This is it!...This is it !
...This is Strawberry Shortcake!!! "
Barbi Sargent won the rights to
Strawberry Shortcake back because of this case, but
eventually returned the rights
back to American Greetings after winning the case. She did not want Strawberry
Shortcake to die or disappear since she was so popular. Like any wonderful
mother she wanted what is best for her girl. Barbi Sargent never received
credit for her creation and the credit has been given to other American
Greetings "In House" employees who made changes, and expanded on the
idea.Then later on given credit for creating her.
Meet the Creator of Strawberry
Shortcake.....
Barbi Sargent is an amazing
artist and most of all an amazing person. I believe in giving people credit
where credit is due. Although there are many artists who have throughout the
years taken part in drawing and establishing the Strawberry Shortcake Character
and her popularity. I feel that the original author and creator of Strawberry
Shortcake should receive the proper credit for her creation. There would not be
the Vintage Strawberry Shortcake as we know her if it wasn't for Barbi
Sargent's amazing whimsical imagination. I hope that you enjoyed these
articles. I was mind blown to see them. I have used all of these images with
the expressed permission directly from Barbi Sargent. You can share this with
others please give credit to Barbi . She is such a warm and kind lady. An
amazing talent and a sweetheart of a friend. Hope you can get to know her more
soon. I have created a Facebook fan page with her art and for all her fans. It
is at:
The Wonderful World of Barbi
Sargent
In closing I wanted to mention
that Strawberry Shortcake actually technically turned 46
this year based on her first
Laurel Valentines Day card. She's getting older, but will always remain that
sweet little girl that always makes us smile .
* Thank you Barbi Sargent for
sharing this. We love you dearly.
