Love on a napkin, on gum wrappers and in real life (10 photos)

Love is… chewing gum inserts are already a kind of history. Children past generations were literally chasing "Lavis", trying to find or exchange the desired number for a collection of wrappers with touching pictures and obvious, but such deep sayings.





At that time, no one really thought about how the story began. chewing gum, which has become a trend. Meanwhile, both the blond girl and the brunette boy from the cult liners were real prototypes. it New Zealand artist Kim Grove and her Italian husband Roberto Casali.

In search of inspiration and a suitable place to live, young Kim went to travel the world. And the choice of a 19-year-old girl fell on sunny California. In the ski club, she spotted a stately sultry the man that was Roberto. He did not notice the sweet girl, but modesty did not allow Grove herself to approach the object of sympathy and познакомиться.



Kim and Roberto

Instead, she dreamed, drawing on napkins touching pictures-sketches with the participation of the same characters - freckled girly and dark-haired guy, accompanying them with the same signature - love is…





First comics

And Roberto paid attention first to the drawings, and then logically became interested in their creator. Invited a girl, so subtly feeling love, on a date. And in the heart of a man, too, quietly entered love. Kim sent her lover drawings, which he carefully kept like a real treasure. Grove herself saw nothing of the sort in them. The drawings only helped to attract the attention of the man she liked. But Roberto decided to help realize the deep potential of his beloved. And introduced the girl to a friend who worked in a newspaper. So pictures featured in the Los Angeles Times.



Although they were printed on the last page, but completely captivated readers with their sincerity. Cartoons soon became a trend, and images of a boy and a girl flashed everywhere - on mugs, T-shirts, clocks, calendars and more.



There have been changes in the relationship of the couple. They got married in the small church where Kim's parents had been married 35 years earlier.



Spouses with first child

The family had children, sons. What is reflected in the new a series of drawings where the cartoon couple had their own babies. At the beginning 1972, the company that Roberto opened was licensed to comics published in more than 50 countries around the world.

But, apparently, higher powers decided that there was a limit to happiness for this family. already exhausted. Casali was diagnosed with cancer at the last stage. Doctors did not give any chance even with a successful surgical intervention. The woman spent all the time in the hospital with her husband, asking the cartoonist Bill Asprey to do comics instead of her, so as not to upset readers.



Doctors warned that even if the man survives, he will lose the opportunity to have children. And the couple really wanted a third baby. And the couple decided to resort to cryopreservation and save the seed in the hope that that then everything will work out, and it will be possible to think about a third child.



The artist's latest comic

But the miracle did not happen: in 1976, at the age of 31, Roberto left life, and only a sad girl and a tombstone remained on the wrapper. The artist was crushed, but found the strength to live. And after one and a half years after the death of her husband, their child, baby Milo, was born. And animated story received the following round: in the new picture, girls with freckles appeared stroller.



Kim with sons

After the appearance of a child born as a result of artificial fertilization, some congratulated Kim, wishing happiness and calling the boy miracle child. Others saw it as a violation of the laws of nature. Believers said that the birth of a child from a dead man contradicts Christian morality.

Shortly after the birth of MiloIna and her sons went to Australia and started breeding thoroughbred horses. Kim died in 1998 relatively young, at the age of 55. The life of the artist also took away cancer. The case was continued by the eldest son Stefano, who headed the Minikim company.



But the artist never returned to the comics that made her famous. Apparently, the memories of short happiness were too painful, which they started. Kim transferred the rights to the same artist Billy Asprey, who continues to publish the comic to this day. After all love is eternal, and even death has no power over it.