No Smoking Dragons

Illustration of two dragons smoking cigarettes with black text across the top on a white background

The artist of this particular button is Sandra Boynton. Sandra is not only an American artist and illustrator; she also authors books and songs, and directs and produces music. Born in New Jersey, Sandra grew up in a Quaker community where she learned the value of having independent thoughts, individualism, and to be nonviolent. Boynton’s art began appearing in the 1970s on card designs for a company called Recycled Paper Greetings. Boynton’s designs were humorous and helped to lead the commercial movement of Alternative Cards. Over sixty million copies of Sandra’s children’s books and over 500 million copies of Sandra’s cards have been sold between the year 1970 and 2003. The unnamed animals and characters that Sandra has drawn were never licensed for reproduction or adaptation. She has designed for many companies including calendars, wallpaper, bedding, paper good, etc. One can assume that Sandra drew the dragons on this button specifically for this anti-smoking advertisement.