No, it wasn’t a bad dream. Donald Trump is officially back in the White House. The self-described “dictator only on day one” was sworn into office as the 47th president of the United States Monday, bringing with him an endless, record-breaking barrage of 26 executive orders, including declaring a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border, proclaiming there are only two genders, withdrawing the U.S. from the World Health Organization and one that ends birthright citizenship, which was immediately challenged as unconstitutional in several lawsuits.
While Trump’s presidency has only just begun, so has the collective grief felt by those who actively voted against him, many of whom will feel the impact of his executive orders right out of the Project 2025 playbook we were warned about.
But, when faced with grief, it’s important to know you’re not alone. Laughter is also a good remedy. Like a best friend showing up with your favorite ice cream and bad reality TV recommendations, Colette Paperie is here to lighten the mood. This Greater Cincinnati-based snarky greeting card and paper goods company helps those gutted by the 2024 election results laugh through Trump-themed grief cards.
Colette Paperie owner Keli Spanier knows grief. It’s what helped start her business 15 years ago as her mother was dying. After finding out her mother had fast-progressing cancer and only had months to a year to live, Spanier quit her job designing for Target in Minneapolis and moved back to the Cincinnati area.
“I got down there on a Wednesday and by Friday, she was like, ‘We need to go to the hospital.’ It was a very quick situation,” Spanier told CityBeat.
Spanier’s mother was in the hospital five weeks before she died. During that time, Spanier’s mother was receiving sympathy cards, but because people are weird about death and what to say to the dying, Spanier said she and her mother found the core behind the sympathetic words and sentiments in those cards to be too sappy. Her mother needed to spend her final days laughing.
“It was crazy because the cards would be like hoping for a miracle. And it was like, no, no. There’s no miracles here. … So [my mom] kind of needed to laugh. And I’ve always loved cards, so I was talking about making funny cards. So I made them right then and there. I brought my laptop and we just kind of talked about it and made jokes.”
Those cards Spanier created went on to help launch Colette Paperie. Fifteen years later, Colette Paperie cards sell in over 1,000 retail stores across the country, as well as online. Its collection of cards can cover any kind of occasion — birthdays, graduations, anniversaries, holidays, etc. There are also things like stickers, acrylic pins, tote bags and more.
But like the cards Spanier made in her mother’s hospital room, these cards aren’t here to be saccharine or mince words or make you go “aww.” They’re here to make you laugh.
“You’re the tits,” reads one thank-you card with an illustration of breasts underneath. Another, one for new parents, reads, “I can’t wait to teach your baby lots of cuss words.” They’re fun, colorful and perfect for those who don’t take themselves too seriously, plus Spanier hand-letters all the cards herself.
The idea to expand her offering of cards and stickers to Trump grief-themed ones came about in 2016. After the 2024 election, Spanier decided to make new ones.
“This time, I was just like, I’m going to make them. It’s scary to take a point of view as a business, because people say, ‘that’s business suicide,’ and I’m like, 72 million people feel the same way,” she said. “Plus, I had already done it and it was very successful in the past, so why not? I mean, it certainly depends on the business, but I’ve always had this kind of product, and it’s always been kind of silly and unique. And I feel like I already had that demographic before I even went full on.”
One of the cards even went viral on the social media platform Threads. A Christmas one reading, “Merry Christmas, I guess…let’s enjoy the last few weeks before the apocalypse,” resonated with over 1,000 users and was one of Spanier’s bestsellers.
Spanier says she sees her business as partly a platform, but her creations are also helping her cope with the new administration.
“I’m not here to offend — well, I guess I am here to offend some people — but it’s a fine line. I wasn’t nasty about [announcing the line of cards] in my emails [to my mailing list], but I was like, ‘This is crazy to me. I am grieving, and this is how I’m grieving. So I created these; if they make you laugh, I’m glad because hopefully that’s a way you can get through it too,’ Spanier said. Because, obviously, we have no choice about the situation. Let’s make light of it, and I can at least say I’m making money off of him.”
But beyond helping people cope with Trump’s re-election, Spanier says her cards have always been about connecting people.
“I always liked the idea of creating something that someone was going to send even further. That person would get this pretty, little envelope in their mailbox and their day would be brightened by it. That’s such a cool concept, and that’s what makes it rewarding.”
Spanier’s Trump grief cards, as well as the collection of all her cards, stickers and more, are available on her online store, colettepaperie.com.
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