How did licensing start ?
One day at the Disneyland Hotel Flavia Gallery an art director walked in and asked Jack Weedn if he would be open to a greeting card license. The family agreed and Flavia’s Greeting Card brands were formed and succeeded greatly. Since 1969, Flavia’s cards have been in print and remain so today. More than 300 million have been sold in many languages all over the world. Cards, Calendars, Journals and Posters have formed the core of the stationery licensing efforts. In the 1970’s The Flavia Factory was born and textile printing was its core business. Quilting kits, craft kits, dolls, and fashion items were all successful. This is the era of department stores and I Magnin, May Co and others were customers. In 1979, The Flavia Company was born to publish its own greeting cards. This grew rapidly and served over 40,000 retailers across the USA. In the 80’s and 90’s The Flavia Company turned to licensing as its core business. It invested in the digitization of the Flavia archive and hired designers to build the creative force as the demand was beyond the abilities of a lone artist. Flavia Weedn managed the artists and the business flourished. Licensees included leading manufacturers and retailers around the world in stationery, book publishing, cards and calendar businesses.
What products are licensed ?
The list of past licensees for Flavia Weedn work includes more than 100 licensed companies. Many multinationals and many localized. Key product categories include Greeting Cards, Stationery, Planners, Office Supplies, Photo Albums, Stickers, Scrap Books, Calendars, Journals, Children’s Books, Posters, Art Prints, Ceramics, Textiles, Graphic Tees, Pajamas, Bank Stationery, Pillows, Throw Blankets and many other consumer goods. Products that combined words and images performed best.
Flavia Weedn’s Story
In 1929 Flavia was born in Los Angeles, California to a family of Texans. Flavia Marie Register was her name. Her unusual name was a princess in a book “The Prisoner of Zenda” that her mother, dollmaker Sylvia Register, saved for her from her own childhood.
Flavia Register grew up in South Los Angeles in a poor part of the city. She was loved unconditionally and inspired at every turn of her life. Her mother a dollmaker and her father a mystery writer. There was not a great deal of jobs for these careers in depression era Los Angeles. In 1953 Flavia married her love, Jack Weedn in Los Angeles. The had son Richard Weedn and daughter, Lisa Weedn. They divorced in 1958 and re-married in 1963.
How did the Flavia Brand Begin?
In 1959 when Flavia Weedn was a divorced mom of a baby girl and a three year old boy she needed to make a living in a way that allowed her to take care of her children at home. She was a lover of second hand and vintage objects. One day after being inspired by an art teacher, Flavia painted a violin case and some wooden crates adorned with her characters she called Tweaks. She placed these in her front yard and they sold to neighbors. That weekend she painted on masonite boards and took the paintings to a local sidewalk sale at a shopping area. The paintings sold out. Soon after Jack Weedn and Flavia reconciled, remarried as Jack returned home as dad and husband and guided the family into the art business in Southern California. He made the frames and managed the selling efforts and the licensing of Flavia’s art as it matured. The collectors from these days in the 60’s included some celebrated personalities. Steve McQueen, Jim Morrison, Walt & Roy Disney, John Wayne to name a few. The street shows transformed into the first art gallery in Laguna Beach in 1965 and the second at Disneyland Hotel. Flavia’s brand was born.Publishers requested licenses and success was found. The first licensee is in fact still a licensee after 50 years, their Flavia Calendar continues to sell.
What countries enjoy Flavia Product?
United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, France, Spain, Italy all have had success with Flavia. Flavia’s fan mail came from all over the world and averaged about 100 letters each month until her illness.
What was top achieved retail revenue?
From 1979 till 1989 Flavia royalty income doubled every year, peak retail was in 2004-2005 at about $100 million USD retail.
Flavia passed away in 2015 after a long courageous battle with Lewy Body Disease. Below is her obituary which speaks volumes as to who she was and why her works lives on.
“Our beloved mother, Flavia Marie Weedn (Register), was born on February 19, 1929 in Los Angeles, CA and became an angel watching over us on June 10, 2015 in Santa Barbara, CA. She was a daughter, sister, mother, grandmother, friend, artist, gypsy, poet and philosopher. She was an extraordinary human being and she lived a most wonderful life.
Mama was raised on deep southern values by a humble family rich in love and hope. The depth of their goodness, their belief in God, and their faith in one another shaped the beautiful soul of our mother. She was born not of money, prestige or finery, but of giving and gracious hearts. She loved life with a passion and had a unique way of embracing every moment as a miracle. She never forgot to thank God for small blessings; she knew that in small things there existed great virtues. Mama’s wealth was her capacity to love. Indeed, she was the richest woman among us.
God gave Mama true grace and a classic inner beauty. She was genteel, feminine, tender and real. A deep and free thinker, she was captivating, elegant in her simplicity, and always so filled with wonder. She wore bangles on her wrists and high-top sneakers until her last days here on earth. She found beauty everywhere and in everyone. Mama was brave and unafraid; she understood there was no time to leave words unsaid. She held love in her pocket, always had a story to tell and a heart that would listen uncritically. Her life’s work inspired romances, soothed broken hearts, gave hope to all who needed it most. She was a voice of encouragement and validation; she gave us all permission to feel and to share our feelings not only without shame, but with passion and gratitude. Her voice reminded us that we are never alone. She generously dedicated herself to providing hope to the human spirit and touched the lives of millions all over the world.
In 1954, Mama married our father, Jack Weedn, and together they began their colorful journey. In the early 60s, needing money to pay the rent, Mama gathered used window shades and old pieces of wood to paint on, then sold them on our front lawn. Soon, she and Dad were selling her paintings in street fairs and in art festivals throughout California. In 1963 they opened their first art gallery in Laguna Beach, then Disneyland Hotel, Ports-of-Call, Snowmass at Aspen and Huntington Beach. Throughout the next four decades Mama’s artwork flourished, as did she. She enjoyed one-woman art shows, her work was reproduced on cards, calendars, posters and thousands of home products distributed worldwide. She wrote and published over 75 books; her first children’s book Flavia and the Dream Maker became a sold-out stage play and she never missed a single performance! Giving back meant the world to Mama and she supported and worked with countless caring organizations such as the American Heart Assoc, Child Abuse Listening Mediation (CALM), Bereaved Parents Organizations, National PTA, Women’s Shelters, Rape Crisis Centers, and she wrapped her heart around as many children’s rights organizations as her tireless hands could hold.
Love and family were everything to Mama. We were always what mattered most in her life. She instilled in us a deep appreciation for one another, for all people, and for God. More than anything Mama believed in love. She lived her life sharing that love with all of us. Mama’s spirit sang the song she believed in. She was authentic and true, and it was from her we learned how to find beauty in the ordinary. It was from her we all learned that giving love is life’s greatest gift. She treated us as if we were her finest and most sacred treasures — and she did so unconditionally. She owned this kind of love.
Mama talked to the moon and stars, and shared her thoughts with God as though He were sitting in a chair in our living room. She revered Him and we grew up knowing that God held us in his hands and loved us with all of His heart. If she thought the world was about to end, Mama would have still watered her geraniums and tea roses, and if she couldn’t, she believed there would always be someone who would. She owned this kind of faith. Every day Mama would look up at the sky and tell us she felt certain that something very wonderful was going to happen. Whether or not it ever happened didn’t matter. She always believed it would. And so did we.
Mama is with us always. We thank God she was our mother. We are so grateful for her love, her teachings, for the memories she gave us, and for the blessings that were born during the magical time we shared together. We still own them. We always will. There are no goodbyes, Mama. You always taught us that Love lasts forever; it is the beauty we take with us wherever we go.
In heaven, Mama joins her parents Sylvia and Flavil Register, brother Bill Register, best friend and husband of 45 years Jack Weedn, their first two sons, and so many loved ones. Those of us here on earth will forever carry on her rich legacy of love. On behalf of her son Richard Weedn, daughter Lisa Weedn, grandchildren Sylvie Gilbert, Stella Weedn, and Miguel Weedn, sister Judy Kohler (Erick), sister-in-laws Deloris Register and Betty Hosie (Bernard), beloved nieces and nephews, cousins, friends, and many many kindred souls whom she so adored, we offer our gratitude in Flavia’s own words…”If I could sit across the porch from God, I’d thank him for lending me you.”
A private celebration of Flavia’s life will take place in late July. In lieu of flowers, she would want you to embrace every minute of this wonderful life, and to reach out to those closest to your heart and tell them how very much they are loved.
Rest in peace, Mama. We know you’re dancing with the angels.”
Below is her final studio in old El Paseo in her beloved Santa Barbara, California.
Today the Flavia Studio in Lugano, Switzerland carries on in the Flavia tradition of publishing and creating new artwork for an ever evolving world.