SAN ANTONIO — We’ve watched her get starched, frozen, stuffed with chocolate, locked in a trunk and lowered to the deck of a ship by helicopter – just to name a few – but we never seem to tire of the zany antics of Lucille Ball and her cast mates from the ever-popular television series I Love Lucy. More than 50 years after the show first aired on CBS, the series has so many fans around the world that at any given moment, someone, somewhere is probably watching a rerun of the show.

If you are among the millions who are still laughing with and at Lucy, Ricky, Ethel and Fred, you will want the new I Love Lucy checks and accessories available from Clarke American, a leading provider of checks and check-related products. Check and return address label designs carry colorful, heart-framed scenes from the series that filmed 179 episodes from 1951 to 1957. Five check scenes and three label scenes pay tribute to some of the best moments shared by the two television couples who seemed to be inseparable and destined for trouble in every episode. To complete the ensemble, a coordinating leather checkbook cover features heart-shaped black-and-white images that coordinate with the check designs.

“Check writers will love the new I Love Lucy products,” says Linda Roothame, Clarke American senior product marketing manager. “The comic brilliance of these classic characters never seems to fade, and new generations of viewers are enjoying the show as much as their parents and grandparents did. More importantly, I Love Lucy is a piece of American nostalgia. We all smile when we remember our favorite episodes – no matter how many times we’ve seen them or how long ago. I think that anyone using these products will enjoy reliving the memories of this entertaining show every time they write a check.”

I Love Lucy check designs and accessories are among other new check designs and accessories recently introduced by Clarke American.

• Care Bears™ designs feature the colorful images of the popular Care Bears, the soft, fuzzy and funny bear characters that each have a special caring mission to carry out in the world. Checks, return address labels and coordinating leather checkbook cover are available.
• Kim Anderson™ designs feature the renowned photographer’s black-and-white images of children touched with subtle bursts of color to heighten the sense of childhood gone by. Checks and return address labels
  are available.
• Pampered Girls™ designs feature whimsical, colorful drawings of women enjoying the simple pleasures of shopping, bubble baths, spa treatments and other girlish indulgences. Checks, return address labels and a coordinating leather checkbook cover are available.
• Paw Prints® by Rachael Hale designs feature the photography of internationally acclaimed photographer Rachael Hale. Products carry the appealing images of cats and dogs, always a favorite with check writers. Checks and return address labels are available.
• Barnyard Babies by Rachael Hale designs also feature the photography of award-winning photographer Rachael Hale. These products carry the photographer’s charming images of baby farm animals. Checks and return address labels are available.
• A foil-stamped initial check book cover offers check writers a classy black-leather accessory that can be personalized with an initial in one of three colors.

The new Clarke American products are available at participating branches beginning June 14th, and can also be ordered through a number of financial institution Internet and phone channels beginning June 13th. To simply view the designs, visit www.clarkeamerican.com.

So, do you love Lucy? You can get the trouble-prone redhead, her Cuban bandleader husband and their landlords/best friends in your checkbook by contacting your financial institution.

Clarke American provides checks and check-related products, Internet and contact
center services, and direct response marketing solutions for the financial services industry.
Each year, the company produces more than 10 billion personal and business checks in a variety of formats for more than 4,000 banks, credit unions and other financial institutions nationwide. The company has more than 3,200 associates and a national network of electronically linked production facilities and customer service centers located throughout the United States.

Clarke American is a recipient of the 2001 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in the manufacturing category, awarded by the U.S. Department of Commerce, and is the recipient of the 2001 Texas Award for Performance Excellence given by the Quality Texas Foundation. For more information about Clarke American, visit www.clarkeamerican.com.

For information about this press release contact
Mike Hannan
(210) 697-1299
Cary Corbin
(830) 609-1932