Newbie here!
Believe it or not, this is a question I have never been able to find an answer to.
If Z purchased them in a store, were there a lot of these cards produced? What company produced the cards? In what stores were they sold?
Second question.
Did police detective David Toschi really forge one of the Zodiac letters as some have alleged?
If so, did he do this to try to draw Zodiac out of hiding because he knew Z’s ego would force a response?
Newbie here!
Believe it or not, this is a question I have never been able to find an answer to.
If Z purchased them in a store, were there a lot of these cards produced? What company produced the cards? In what stores were they sold?
Second question.
Did police detective David Toschi really forge one of the Zodiac letters as some have alleged?
If so, did he do this to try to draw Zodiac out of hiding because he knew Z’s ego would force a response?
Welcome RR.
Some of the cards were store bought. Some items he created by pasting pieces of newspapers,etc
As far as Toschi forging any Z letters, he was cleared of that,and there’s no evidence he ever did any kind of forgery regarding the case
There is more than one way to lose your life to a killer
http://www.zodiackillersite.com/
http://zodiackillersite.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/Morf13ZKS
Common and store bought.
“…they may be dealing with one or more ersatz Zodiacs–other psychotics eager to get into the act, or perhaps even other murderers eager to lay their crimes at the real Zodiac’s doorstep.“ L.A. Times, 1969
Thank you for the speedy replies.
Still one unanswered question though. What was the name of the company (or companies) that produced the store bought cards?
Some of the cards were "Jolly Roger" greeting cards, a division of International Greetings Co.
The "Sorry to hear your ass is a dragon." card was designed by Walter J. Stanger (c) 1966 [Page 2, 2nd column at bottom]. Copy from other cards:
As a point of interest, the Jolly Roger type of greeting cards are known as "studio cards". They became popular after WWII:
From this blog:
Studio greeting cards find their roots in the years following WWII, when some independent artists struck out on their own and tapped into the youth market with their off-beat humor.
Characterized by cutting often sarcastic humor and fabulous illustrations; you can usually tell if you’re reading a studio card because you’re laughing…and, frequently, you can hear a faint rim-shot in your head….Bum dum chssss! With their entertaining verses and unorthodox illustrations, studio cards grabbed the attention of college kids and sales and the new genre took off! Indeed, at one point, many lunch hours were filled standing around studio card racks and catching the latest jokes.
Studio cards are known for their tall, narrow design, famously reported to have been chosen because the #10 business envelope was the least expensive,however,the cards were actually produced in various shapes~the humor and the cartooning being telltale signs.
According to Dean Norman, in his book, Studio Cards- Funny Greeting Cards and People Who Created Them,
"The number of companies ranged from a handful in the late 1940s to over 125 companies producing everyday studio cards in the 1960s."
More Jolly Rogers examples:
I own this one:
“…they may be dealing with one or more ersatz Zodiacs–other psychotics eager to get into the act, or perhaps even other murderers eager to lay their crimes at the real Zodiac’s doorstep.“ L.A. Times, 1969
A few years back, I went down the rabbit hole of trying to figure out where the Halloween card’s cut-out skeleton may have come from. I reposted my findings here:
Also, does anyone know if another example of the "Secret Pal" skeleton Halloween card exists somewhere? I have yet to find any other example of it "in the wild".
Not skeleton but pumpkin.
A few years back, I went down the rabbit hole of trying to figure out where the Halloween card’s cut-out skeleton may have come from. I reposted my findings here:
http://www.zodiackillersite.com/viewtop … =63&t=2899
Also, does anyone know if another example of the "Secret Pal" skeleton Halloween card exists somewhere? I have yet to find any other example of it "in the wild".
Not yet. Some excellent movie prop cards though.
“…they may be dealing with one or more ersatz Zodiacs–other psychotics eager to get into the act, or perhaps even other murderers eager to lay their crimes at the real Zodiac’s doorstep.“ L.A. Times, 1969
Wow, I am truly blown away by the knowledge of members on this forum. Some of you must be like walking Zodiac encyclopaedias. 
I am sure if I had posted this question on another forum I would have been lucky to get a single reply. Thank you so much for the in depth replies.
The reason I asked this question is I’ve always felt names were very significant for the Zodiac, whether they be surnames, road names, place names, or company names.
Has the pumpkin covering the skeleton in the Halloween card ever been removed, to see if it was covering anything, or if it had any writing on its reverse side?
Has the pumpkin covering the skeleton in the Halloween card ever been removed, to see if it was covering anything, or if it had any writing on its reverse side?
There is an image of it here, on doranchak’s thread, sans pumpkin. AFAIK, yes it was removed (see image) and no, no writing was found on it.
http://zodiackillersite.com/viewtopic.p … 99&start=0
“I don’t know Chief, he’s very smart or very dumb.“
Anyone know of a list of greeting card artists/writers during the Zodiac years?
