Full article
We often associate crying screaming fans with the Beatles, but before the Beatles, there was Frank. Frank Sinatra’s swooning fans, known as the “bobby soxers”, crowded performances crying and fainting with admiration for the crooner. Their obsessive crushes were fueled by fan clubs, celebrity magazines and movies. Frank Sinatra merchandise capitalized on that obsession. Our client brought two of these fan items to be framed by us. They are a record shaped vanity purse and a belt made up of small record shaped links.
The client is an avid collector of vintage Frank Sinatra memorabilia. Over the years we have framed dozens of pieces for his collection. From silk handkerchiefs that Frank would hand out at performances, to magazine covers, advertising ephemera, albums, autographed artwork and Cal-Neva branded lighters, money clips and tie tacks that Frank would personally had out to promote his Cal-Neva Resort and Casino. This piece would be joining several other pieces we had framed for the client’s game room, which also features a juke box and pool table. A design that helped showcase the items and complement the décor of the room was needed.
Borrowing from the theme of the items, we created a layout that would mimic the shape of an album by laying the belt flat and centering the purse in the middle. A double mat was then cut on the Wizard CMC with a circular opening and an open v-groove to give us an album outline. We choose a black suede for the top and a gold mat for the reveal to enhance the detail of the vanity purse. The items were then hand stitched down to the mats to hold them in place without compromising the integrity of the items themselves with glues or adhesives. As always, we not only want to create a beautiful design, but a framing environment that will preserve the items being framed. Only acid free matting and foam board are used, and pH neutral thread to keep the items securely in place.
The client was drawn to Bella Moulding’s red glitter frame from the Vegas line. However, this profile was not deep enough to hold the items we were framing. To solve this problem, a shadow box was created by stacking the red glitter frame with a simple mat black profile giving us the room we needed for the purse. A gold fillet was then added. The walls of the shadow box were lined with the same black suede matboard as the background. The piece was finished with Conservation Clear glass to block out as much UV light as possible. This design allowed all the links of the belt to be displayed and gave the piece some whimsy and fun. It now holds its own on the wall with all the other pieces we have framed for this client. We think Frank would approve.