Petroleum Jelly c. 1950s Hand-painted Make Do Cardboard Sign old cat doorstop the crafting of birchbark quill

the crafting of birchbark quill boxes never completely died out

There are some hatch marks on the ball

but especially for the less showy potato and  expressionistic watermelon

super finely done and I believe antique

or just looking great on the desk

Petroleum Jelly c. 1950s Hand-painted Make Do Cardboard Sign old cat doorstop the crafting of birchbark quillThis sign was painted on the back of two joined overapping pieces of cardboard packaging, including one for "Nu Style" Peppermint Patties, which pretty definitely dates it to the 1950s, and would strongly suggest it was made in a grocery store for actual store use. It also suggests that this store was pushing a generic brand of petroleum jelly, perhaps its own store brand, rather than promoting Vaseline (which had been invented in 1870; the wikipedia