We love bathing beauty postcards and have collected several kinds. In this post, the illustrations are all early undivided-back postcards dating from 1901 - 1907. Each has a plain area on the front for the sender to write a message, since only the address was allowed on the back at that time.
The bathing beauties in this post are all on flat postcards. The three above were published by M.M. Vienne, Series 205.
Some bathing beauty postcards that were originally designed during the early undivided back period were still available after the divided back period began which allowed senders to write their message on the left side of the back of the postcard. What to do about the white area of the design on the front? Hildesheimer Publishers in London and an un-named publisher in Germany used the following solution.
A German-published postcard designed for worldwide distribution is shown to the right, with a lovely bathing beauty communing with a butterfly. Although this postcard is an early undivided back, there is minimal white space on the front where the sender can add a message. Perhaps this is why we sometimes find early undivided postcards with writing all over the front, including on top of the design. Some believe that writing on the front does not detract from the value of an undivided back postcard. We prefer to purchase postcards where the design is clear and untouched, because we collect postcards for their images!PRICE ESTIMATES: The postcards shown in this post were purchased for $8 - $32. It's hard to estimate bathing beauty postcard prices because they are so variable. If you want to collect bathing beauties, be sure to see the additional posts on other types of bathing beauty designs, to help you choose your own favorites. Collecting is a combination of fun and investing. You will become most knowledgeable about what interests you most!
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