Jennifer McKnight-Trontz - Hang in There!: Inspirational Art of the 1970s

For Esme, Ian, Deborah, and James Patrick

A big thank you to my editor Steve Mockus and the staff at Chronicle Books. A special thank you to the photographers who created the inspirational material featured in this book, including Robert Cushman Hayes, James Fromme, Mike McClue, Michael Powers, Pat Powers, Leonard Rue III, Michele and Tom Grimm, Phoebe Dunn, and Victor Baldwin. And of course, thank you to the companies who produced the material, including Hallmark Cards, Inc.; The Topps Company, Inc.; Russ Berrie & Co.; Stapco; AAK; B of A, Inc.; G. P. Publishing; April House; Argus Communications; and C. M. Paula Co. Thanks also to Bruce Woodbury for sharing his treasures.

We loved these posters, plaques, and statues. At home and at school, sad-eyed puppies, mischievous kittens, and loony chimps helped us through tough times. When the kittens told us that friendship was a special kind of love, or the basset hound advised us to hope for the best and cope with the rest, we knew exactly what they meant.

But somewhere along the way we lost track of our friends. As we grew up, we lost them to garage sales, or replaced them on our bedroom walls with rock stars, boys from teen magazines, or babes in beer ads. We set them free, but now theyve come back to us.

All of your old favorites are here. Open your heart once again to the elegant colt galloping through a field of wildflowers, a dew-covered rose, statues that teach us the meaning of wuv, and the various breeds of cats who always seem to find themselves desperately hanging in there.

As with all true love, we love these posters today more than yesterday, but not as much as we will tomorrow. More than a quarter century later, the kitten is still holding on.

Jennifer McKnight-Trontz