postcardiva postcard blog

PROHIBITION PRO & CON ALCOHOL POSTCARDS

2011-12-24T10:17:00.000-08:00

Old postcards reflect the American ambivalence toward alcohol and drunkeness - there are many images that make light of drunken men and their behavior. We show a couple of examples here.

The colorful fellow in the barrel seems to be happy to be drunk, while the fellow with a candle stumbling toward bed illustrates another view of the inebriated citizen, befuddled and defensive.

The camel quote below is a popular postcard theme, and is available with a variety of illustrations. The sentiment is pro-alcohol, implying that no one in their right mind would want to do without.

On the other hand, the prevalence of alcoholism and the problems it posed to many families in the early 1900s, where the weekly paycheck was spent on liquor at the local saloon instead of paying for rent and food, was present in anti-alcohol images on postcards. Here is a play on words using the popular image of a dog listening to a gramophone...instead of the musical horn, we see a large funnel set into a liquor bottle and the caption tells us the true meaning.

If you have not yet seen the Ken Burns series on Prohibition, you may find it intriguing and educational. The series outlines the ambivalence toward alcohol use, the conflicting factors on the political scene, and the unintended consequences of prohibition. (For instance, did you know that Prohibition promoted the rapid growth of organized crime in America?) On the side of instituting Prohibition were those concerned about the detrimental effects of alcohol on America's young men and their families. Here are a few colorful images with that perspective. A.T. Cook is the artist of these elaborate drawings. In the third image, we see the comment, James is a drunkard, Henry owns a Handsome House.

Although Prohibition was made law in 1919, the conflict of ideas did not cease. Many postcards continued to show drunken men (not women!) as humorous, while the anti-drinking factions continued to promote sobriety and family responsibility.

A pro-sobriety image offers one view of Prohibition as lovers cheerfully share a drink at a water fountain.

Below is a humorous postcard about sobriety...which also illustrates the origin of the saying, "On the wagon." A variety of Water Wagon images can be found relating to sobriety.

We also learned from the Ken Burns film the true impetus behind eventually repealing Prohibition - this postcard tells the hope of a positive result, where repeal would put the unemployed back to work and save the nation from poverty.

Entitled Dream of Prosperity, the script at the bottom begins Last night I dreamed that the Volstead Law had been amended, permitting the sale of beer (Oh! What a grand and glorious feeling!) Immediately 100,000 carpenters, bricklayers and laborers went to work building and refitting breweries; 50,000 brewery truck drivers, helpers, vatmen and coppersmiths were hired; and 100,000 printers were put to work printing beer labels. The Volstead Act, Prohibition, was repealed in 1933.

Price Estimates: Prohibition and alcohol-related cards vary widely in price. Some of the WCTU - Women's Christian Temperance Union - postcards can be priced high, especially the real photo images of demonstrations and parades. However, the cards in this post cost between about $5 - $15. These prices are for cards in EXCELLENT condition, and they are only estimates.

Silk SANTA CLAUS Christmas Postcards

2011-12-03T04:43:00.000-08:00

This post is about fabric-added Santa Claus novelty postcards, all with rich embossing. We especially like the way the fabric added to these images intensifies the color on our favorite holiday fellow. We also enjoy how friendly Santa appears in these cards, with his expression varying from a quiet gentleness to a truly jolly smile.

There's a wide variety of silk Santa Claus images, showing him with Angels, children, and with different modes of transportation. Here we show a sampling of images, all marked Made in Germany on the back.

As with many valuable postcards, you will find lower prices at auction than in on-line stores or at postcard shows. Because these Christmas postcards are so desirable, there can be lively competition for them. While the prices are high, remember that the more valuable the postcards you collect, the more likely they are to appreciate in value significantly over the years.

We love this image of Santa Claus in an old-fashioned imaginative dirigible with the earth far below him. This dramatic image gives him more altitude than his task seems to require, but it's a lovely design with blue silk on the doll as well as red silk on Santa. The embossing on the basket and holly is very detailed.

Considering how busy Santa is on Christmas eve, he can be forgiven a few shortcuts. Here he meets little girls at their window to give them their toys. Perhaps these children didn't have a chimney. Apartment dwellers look forward to his visits, too! One of the little girls wears a blue dress with silk added in this image.

This is an intriguing montage of Christmas images with Santa Claus and his reindeer on the snowy rooftop on the right side...and a scene of the sleeping children on the left. Santa's sleigh is full of the usual toys and also has an American flag, indicating that this design was destined for the American market.

A whimsical design shows Santa on a big handsome rocking horse, perhaps testing this beautiful toy before he leaves it for a lucky child. Santa seems especially cheerful in this image as he rides along under a bright moon.

In our last image, Santa holds up a flaming torch to light the way in a dark forest, with a crescent moon shining on the right side. A group of Angels and children form a little parade with him, carrying toys, playing a drum, holding a sack...charming imagery with lots of action!

Price Estimates: These highly-collectible postcards range in price from about $25 up to $75 and more. They are commonly priced over $50, but careful shopping may find quality examples for less. The more unusual images cost more. In this post, the most valuable postcard is the design of Santa Claus in his dirigible. These prices are for postcards in EXCELLENT condition, and they are only estimates.

CHRISTMAS ANGELS on Antique Postcards

2011-12-02T14:24:00.000-08:00

As the holiday season approaches, it's a good time to look at some of the antique postcards devoted to Christmas celebrations. This post is about Angels, many musical, that graced greetings at the turn of the century. The blond Angel above resembles art by Ellen Clapsaddle but appears on a nicely embossed postcard without a publisher's name on the back. Since publishers often stole artwork from other publishers, it's hard to know exact histories for some of our favorite images. This pretty postcard is Printed in Germany.

These pretty singers appear on an early undivided back postcard. The image is done in soft colors on a flat postcard, with lit candles on the tree. Imagine having lit wax candles on an evergreen tree now - we'd consider it a fire hazard. But at the time, it must have looked quite magical, especially in the evening as the light faded outdoors.

These two heavily embossed Angels have airbrushed colors that make them stand out dramatically from their dark green backgrounds. The card on the left has clouds embossed in the background, adding to the fantasy quality. The publisher is not identified on these postcards, either.

A silver background creates a lovely setting for this dark-haired Angel with a pink-trimmed gown and white feathery wings. She is shown with mistletoe on this early undivided back flat postcard postmarked 1907. Exceptional artwork and a mist of gold at the top of the background make this image special.

Here we see another musical Angel with giant wings, as she floats above a snowy landscape, her music in hand. This postcard is nicely embossed with wonderful gold stars dotting the deep blue sky. Our Angel finds her footing in a soft swirl of white cloud - a lovely image on another Printed in Germany postcard. On the back is printed Post Card, Poskarte, Carte Postale, indicating the three markets where the postcard would be made available to buyers.

We close this post with a very unusual Angel on a poster-style postcard, protecting young women workers below her sheltering pink wings. This is a holiday greeting with a social action theme. Below, you will find the sentiment printed on the back of the postcard in the message section.

Price Estimates: Angel postcards range widely in price, from about $6 up to $25 or more, depending on design and quality. Images of larger Angels, and images with lavish embossing and lots of silver or gold details added, usually cost more than plainer postcards. Angels with children or shown with Santa Claus command a higher price. These prices are for postcards in EXCELLENT condition and they are only estimates.

SAN FRANCISCO CA Quake & Fire Postcards

2011-09-17T09:50:00.000-07:00

The San Francisco Earthquake and Fire in April 1906, in which about 3,000 people died, is one of the most famous disasters in U.S. history. At the time, it captured the attention of readers around the country as they read about the damage in their newspapers. Many photographs were taken and postcards of the event are plentiful. Postcards are available in black-and-white and colored versions; some are common and some are harder to find. Here we offer a review of some postcards of this fascinating subject. Above we see two images. The black and white card shows a homeless man hauling his rescued belongings with a caption that points out the crack in the ground. The tinted postcard shows one of the most popular images - City Hall in ruins.

This colored printed image above shows the Opera House. All the postcards in this post are early undivided-back postcards, so messages had to be written on the front as only the address was allowed on the back.

The fire actually caused more damage than the earthquake at it roared through the city devouring wooden buildings. About 3/4 of the city's people were homeless and tents were set up in the city's parks to offer shelter. Only the destruction of many fine homes in the path of the fires stopped the destruction. Here is a colorful printed postcard showing flames in the sky, wooden buildings in the foreground.

The image above shows the Hamilton Hotel and the ruins of the Flood Building. The detail is very sharp, showing the rubble piled up where buildings used to stand. Published by Kropp of Milwaukee.

Below we see a real photo postcard (RPPC) of the destruction. Real photo postcards are harder to find than the more common printed postcards. This intriguing image shows a lady at the left, a background of partially destroyed buildings, and two signs. One says, "D. Samuels Lace Co. will occupy these premises." and the other says, "Sullivan Contracting Co. Wrecking & Grading".

This postcard has the caption: Policeman on Duty, April 25, 1906. We have also seen it with a caption that describes the distribution of flour to survivors of the earthquake and fire. You can see the women holding big pans and the sacks of flour on the ground.

We especially like the postcard scenes that include people - the San Franciscan citizens responded to the disaster with fortitude, and when we can see them in the postcard images, we believe we have a more accurate sense of what the event was like to experience. This scene shows people surveying the damage "looking up Mason Street". After the 1980s quake, we had friends in San Francisco who went out walking to view the damage, too.

The postcard above is from a series that was sold to shop-owners who could stamp their own name in the white space. Here, Chase's Pharmacy in So. Braintree (we imagine in Massachusetts). The series shows views not readily available, so it is desirable even though the pictures are not as sharp as some others available. The caption on this card says, "Thousands of people stood in line daily, patiently waiting their turn for relief supplies. St. Mary's Cathedral offered a convenient place." You can see people lined up in front of the Cathedral and along the side of the building.

There are some rare postcards of the earthquake and fire - here is one showing a wonderful spotted dog with a caption that tells us he survived "Five days through fire and earthquake, without food, in the Hotel St. Francis wine cellars, San Francisco."

We also have a series of postcards, harder to find, that were made of reconstruction scenes once the quake was over and the city began to rebuild.

Price Estimates: Postcards of the earthquake and fire are easy to find, so you can afford to be picky. Look for cards in top condition. Sometimes you can find a Lot of these postcards and that will usually decrease the price-per-postcard. Be willing to pay more for unusual or real photo images. Expect to pay $5 - $25 depending on rarity. These estimates are for postcards in EXCELLENT condition, and they are only estimates.

Antique ALPHABET Postcards

2011-09-02T09:05:00.000-07:00

Alphabet postcards from the early 1900s are fun to collect - you know you will have to find 26 postcards to complete your set, and you can choose one style or mix and match - in this post, we look at a variety of styles to introduce you to the possibilities. Of course, there are other series of attractive alphabet postcards not shown here - you will find a lot to like in this area of collecting! Our personal favorite series is an alphabet of flowers signed by C. Klein (Catherine or Caterina - a German artist of great popularity for her nature designs). We open this post with a forget-me-not letter B above, and we will have a second Klein alphabet letter further on. These cards are flat with lovely floral designs for each letter.

On the left is a charming design of little children inside of roses on a colorful flat postcard forming the letter D.

The languid pose of the lady on the right could be considered a bit risque for the period - she is dressed in a classical Greek-style toga dress with her hair pinned up, posing inside a 'wood' letter C on a little bridge in a woodland setting. This is a flat postcard series using bentwood for all the letters. Don't miss the sprigs of leaves still green on the letter. Part of the fantasy appeal of this series is that the letters are created out of live branches.

Below is a pretty little Angel holding a letter I on an alphabet series with superb artwork by Ellen Clapsaddle. The postcards are embossed, with shining gold added. On each of the letters, the background is the same blue-green with swirls that resemble clouds.

Real photo postcards with montages of fantasy images are one sub-set of alphabet postcards. Here are two different examples, for the letters E and Z. The top postcard is black and white, the bottom postcard has a sepia tint. These combined images of glamorous women with little children have no tinting.

On the right is a sweet child inside a large letter Q surrounded by flowers. She plays music and wears a soft pink chemise. These postcards are flat, characterized by lovely colors in delicate shades.
The letters are outlined in gold.

Here are two little girls holding up a big letter N on a French real photo postcard. The children wear wonderful dresses and have fancy hair-dos. This picture is "vignetted" - in other words, the image gradually disappears at the bottom of the postcard. This real photo postcard has delicate tinting with colors and hand-painted details on the girls' gowns.

We close with another beautiful alphabet letter postcard signed by Catherine Klein - as in some of her alphabet designs, the flowers coordinate with the letters, so here are orchids for the letter O. As always, her artwork is magnificent, blending natural flowers and leaves with the formation of the letter.

Price Estimates: Alphabet postcards are a good buy recently, with the more commonly-available series priced at about $5 - $10 each. The two most expensive series in this post are the Clapsaddle Angels and the Klein Flowers. These will cost $20 each or more. Remember that these estimates are for postcards in EXCELLENT condition, and they are only estimates.

D. GOBBI - ART DECO Postcards

2011-08-31T11:52:00.000-07:00

This post shines a spotlight on six art deco designs all signed by the artist, D. Gobbi. We were unable to find any information about this artist, although his/her designs are popular among deltiologists. This design shows a flirting couple with a flowering tree covered with brilliant yellow blossoms.

Flat cards with vivid images, glamorous couples and ladies, designs with gold added are typical of this artist's work, which appears to have flourished in the 1920s. We are particularly fond of Gobbi designs that feature Oriental or Arabic art deco imagery and we have chosen from that genre for this post. The artist also created a range of pretty images in the Colonial art deco style which you can find listed for sale on eBay.

This is our personal favorite, of a romantic couple beside a flowering tree covered in pink blossoms. The design has vivid colors and comes complete with a dragon. The couple wears gorgeous clothing and the man's outfit features a dragon motif.

Price Estimates: Prices vary on the rarity of the design. So far, the dragon design is the image we have seen sold at the highest price. Expect to pay $20 - $50 per postcard, depending on condition and design desirability. This estimate is for D. Gobbi postcards in EXCELLENT condition, and it is only an estimate.

Antique KALEIDOSCOPE Mechanical Postcards

2011-06-23T06:56:00.000-07:00

We referenced kaleidoscope postcards in our post on Mechanical Postcards, but these cards are so spectacular that we decided to devote a post to them alone. These are produced in layers, with an embossed image, a wheel attached with a grommet, sticking out on the side of the postcard, that allows the 'kaleidoscope' design to be turned which changes the colors and the designs. The postcards are finished with a flat layer on the back for the address and message. All the postcards in this post are embossed and all are from the early 1900s.

The overall effect is rather like that of a top that, when twirled, creates a colorful swirling pattern. Ranging from quite simple, with just an Easter egg for instance, to more elaborate designs, these ever-popular antique postcards have often been reproduced. Make sure when you are buying or bidding that you know whether you are getting an original or a reproduction! On the Easter design above, the white kaleidoscope wheel is just visible at the top of the postcard.

On the design to the right of a Happy New Year clock, the kaleidoscope wheel protrudes from both sides of the postcard. The clock hand on the postcard can be manually adjusted to any numeral. Richly embossed, this design is brightened with a lot of shining gold.

The eye-catching dancing lady on the left is one of our favorites. She is harder to find than the more common Easter egg or Thanksgiving turkey designs. She dances in a huge twirling dress on a reflective shiny floor in a darkened background, an unusual and glamorous design with a large area of kaleidoscope action. The white wheel is just visible on both sides of the postcard.

Another unusual kaleidoscope design shows a sea captain at the wheel of his ship, with the caption at the top saying Mail This to your Boy or Girl Friend.

The white kaleidoscope wheel protrudes from the sides of this postcard. The colors in the background of the wheel are combinations of yellow, orange and red, giving the impression of swirling flames.

Below, a pretty pair of Dutch children embrace above the sentiment, A Happy New Year to You, perhaps the artwork of Frances Brundage and sometimes attributed to Ellen Clapsaddle. In any case, the artwork is superb and the kaleidoscope function is especially ornate with a pair of candles and a colorful wreath, all of which display whirling colors when the white wheel is turned on the sides and top of the card.

These pretty Merry Christmas angels hover in a belltower below snow and icicles, in front of a deep blue nighttime sky dotted with gold stars. They are ringing a cluster of golden bells with kaleidoscopic colors behind them - the turning wheel is visible on both sides of this postcard. Below, more angels proclaim Valentine's Day greetings on a pair of kaleidoscope postcards with designs by Ellen Clapsaddle, printed in Germany by the same un-named publisher. (The design on the left has a small notation bottom right that says Printing Only copyrighted by the Intl Art Pub Co) The colors are extra-vivid, the kaleidoscope designs feature a big red heart on one postcard and a plume of flames from a smaller heart in the angel's arms on the other. Both are beautifully embossed, with white turning wheels that protrude from either side of the postcards.

Price Estimates: Kaleidoscope postcards are highly collectible and their prices reflect their popularity. Expect to pay $40 - $60 for the designs shown in this post, depending on rarity, condition, and where you find them. Some dealers will charge significantly more. If you find good quality kaleidoscope postcards at much lower prices, they are probably reproductions. Look carefully at the backs to see if the information there answers the original vs. reproduction question. These prices are for postcards in EXCELLENT condition, and they are only estimates.

Antique Novelty Real Hair Postcards

2011-06-23T06:09:00.000-07:00

Of course, these aren't decorated with actual human hair - in fact, we are unsure what the hair is made of, and would welcome hearing from anyone who has information! However, the charm of these unusual novelty postcards, all dating from the early 1900s, is not limited by their fake hairdos, and we decided they deserved a post of their own. Usually showing lovely ladies, there are also children with hair added. Above, we see a sweet child in a classic Victorian sailor outfit.

The blonde woman to the left is a signed artist postcard with fine details. Her hair has been added along with a small die-cut paper flower. This is an example of a postcard that was also available without hair added. Her hair has been glued onto an already completed design.

Here is a glamorous woman in a very fancy lacy gown, with ropes of pearls and pink flowers pinned to her dress. Curly light brown hair has been added and she has a fabric pink flower in her hair as decoration, matching the flowers on her bodice. We can just see a little of the strawberry blonde printed hair style at the top and front of her added hair.

This woman in a green gown with a matching cap and a long string of colorful jewels gives the impression of a medieval beauty. Her long dark curly hair is brightened by silver and gold metallic paper foil stars. Below, a lady in pink ruffles sports another gold star in her dark curly hair, topped by a pink ruffled hat with a red feather trim design.

The post ends with two children...a little musical darling with delicate pink cheeks and a rosebud mouth. Her hair is a bit messy, which happens with postcard handling.

Our other tyke has a mischievous grin and winning ways; she takes a curl from her abundant auburn hair, bringing Christmas Greetings. The curl could be returned to her loose hairdo, but we like the way it looks above, the way we received it. She has a real ribbon bow in her hair, blue to go with her bright blue eyes.

Price Estimates: Hair-added novelty postcards vary widely in price as they go in and out of popularity. We purchased these between $12 - $20, but they can be much more expensive, depending when and where you find them and depending on their condition. This is only an estimate.

MARGARET TARRANT Fairies Goblins Postcard Artist

2011-04-19T10:01:00.000-07:00

Margaret Tarrant, beloved British illustrator of postcards and storybooks, featured three basic themes in her work: fairies and goblins, children in nature, religiious Christian images. In this post, we focus on her works showing fairies, elves, goblins, all forest and meadow dwellers.

Margaret Tarrant created an impressive body of work and was extremely popular in the 1920s and 1930s. Her work is still enthusiastically collected today. She was born in 1888, the only child of Percy Tarrant, a landscape artist, and Sarah Wyatt. Her father was a successful illustrator, published in magazines, books and greeting cards. Margaret followed his lead, developing her own unique watercolor style. Her friends included Molly Brett, and Cicely Mary Barker, also popular artists of fairies, children and religious subjects.

The Scots Pine Fairies wear pointed hats and perch in a Scots Pine tree, a big full moon glowing on the horizon...The Fairy Troupe shows a group of tiny fairies parading with flowers... Pear-blossom Fairy has settled on a pear tree branch and is surrounded by white petals and butterflies. Gorgeous colors, mystical images, characterize Tarrant's work in this genre.

All the postcards in this post were published by The Medici Society, established in 1908 by Philip Lee Warner and Eustace Gurney. Their goal was to publish the work of artists so that their images could be more widely distributed. Postcards are a perfect medium for this - the owners of the Medici Society resolved to sell their products "for the lowest price commercially possible"...nowadays some of the Medici Society postcards, including those by Margaret Tarrant, can bring solid prices.

Below is one of our favorites in the Fairy series, the Cherry Fairies, surrounded by a decorated border and sharing the spotlight with ripe red fruit. Exquisite colors, delicate imagery, a fine example of Margaret Tarrant's work.

Above we find little winged goblins or fairies writing letters on flower petals...they have insect-style wings.

This is a newer version of Tarrant's work, also by The Medici Society, printed on matte white postcard stock - vivid colors light up this Rainbow Fairies image.

The last image in this post, Fantasia, is an exceptionally fine image of fairies beside a stream, with the boy sporting butterfly wings and the girl having translucent wings like those of a dragonfly. Water lilies and fish in the stream and a profusion of delicately-colored flowers complete the scene.

Price Estimates: Fairy and Goblin images by Margaret Tarrant can be acquired from about $10 - $25 each, depending on the seller either on the internet or at a show and on the availability of different images. These estimates are for postcards in EXCELLENT condition, and they are only estimates.

SAN FRANCISCO Panama Pacific International Exposition Postcards

2011-04-16T09:43:00.000-07:00

This post introduces a selection of poster-style postcards from the San Francisco California Panama Pacific International Exposition, sometimes referred to as PPIE. Postcards were produced advertising the exposition years before it opened to encourage potential visitors to plan ahead to come to San Francisco for the festivities. The exposition celebrated the completion of the Panama Canal; it also re-introduced the world to the post-quake and fire city, a rebuilt and proud San Francisco. The card that opens this post was published by Edward Mitchell.

There are a number of fun advertising postcards from the exposition. We are fond of giant anything, so we are sharing the giant typewriter below. This postcard is well-known and commonly available, so the exposition visitors must have liked it, too. We admire the confident way the typewriter is promoted as the machine we will eventually buy!

Above we show two glorious poster-style images from the exposition, both featuring beautiful women in classic dress...vibrant colors on flat postcards. They are both published by Exposition Publishing Co. On the back of the right card is stamped in red: Out of Debt Day, San Francisco, September 3, 1915. The P.P.I. Exposition is a Financial as well as Artistic Success. Its last cent of debt was paid today. Send this to your absent friends today.

Here are two more Exposition designs, one marked on the back that it is published by Exposition Pub. Co. and one marked Edward Mitchell...we notice that the rest of the back design is exactly the same. The image on the left includes one of the mantras of the Exhibition: California Welcomes the World. The image on the right includes the California Bear that appears on the State flag, standing on a rocky outcropping. The image is elaborate, showing quake-and-fire ruins in the foreground, and the rebuilt city behind the ruins, with the Bay in the background. A flag flies above the scene, with a banner surrounded by images of ribbons and leafy garlands at the top...this is a truly magnificent poster-style postcard with strong colors and outstanding artwork.

Below are more images of the California State Bear. Bear-in-Mind is a multiple pun image, with subtle colors, copyrighted in 1911. Undaunted has a dramatic image that emphasizes the strength of San Franciscans who rebuilt their beloved city after the quake and fire. The bear has an arrow in his back but stands above the ruins in defiance.

The last two postcards in this post are a little different. One is a real photo postcard of an Exposition Hiker, who holds his dog in this portrait. The caption says Harold Card, Exposition Hiker, Portland to San Diego Frisco and Return. The card has an AZO (1904-1918) stampbox and a studio identification on the back: Made by the Electric Studio, Portland Ore. On the right is a closeup of a portrait postcard showing a pretty woman in a Panama hat holding a bouquet of California poppies. Her hatband advertises the reason for the image.

Price Estimates: PPIE postcards include promotional postcards, advertising, real photo postcards and many views of the buildings and events at the Exposition itself. In this post, we have focused on poster-style postcards, some of the more expensive postcards that can be collected from this famed International fair. The least expensive is the typewriter advertising postcard which may be found reasonably priced online. The other postcards shown here will cost about $20 - $50. These estimates are for postcards in EXCELLENT condition and they are only estimates.

SAN FRANCISCO POSTER STYLE POSTCARDS

2011-04-16T08:57:00.000-07:00

Poster style postcards present visuals in the style of much larger prints. All the great graphics of a poster are squeezed into the standard 3.5 X 5.5 inch space of a postcard, keeping the impact while allowing the collection to be stored in an album rather than covering your walls. This is our first post on the subject, focusing on San Francisco, California.

Of course, San Francisco is also famous for the Panama-Pacific Exposition, celebrating both the opening of the Canal and the rise of the city from the ashes of the quake and fire of 1906. The card above shows two scenes of the city in oval vignettes above an image of the Bay and the Ferry Building (which is still there, now the scene of a fine farmer's market). You will note that the image of the Golden Gate has no bridge, because this postcard dates from about 1915 and the bridge was built in the 1930s.

This nicely embossed greeting postcard shows the Victorian Cliff House above the San Francisco beach, before it was burned down. A shame it wasn't reconstructed in its original form - what a beautiful and impressive building.

San Francisco is also known for its Chinatown, and early advertising postcards featured successful businesses in the Chinatown area. Below is a good example of this poster-style postcard, a flat and colorful image.

Above is a creative poster-style design showing what appears to be a burlap-wrapped package secured with twine and red sealing wax, with 'stencil' lettering, a tag and a picture of a New Post Office postcard, making this both a San Francisco postcard and a good addition to the deltiology collector's album. This flat postcard is postmarked 1907.

Above we show two Admission Day celebration postcards, both with vivid colors and dramatic graphics. These cards are flat, with the lady card by Cardinell-Vincent publishers, and the couple by Edward Mitchell. Both these publishers were active in San Francisco at the turn of the century.

Here is another view of the original Cliff House, embellished with the California State flower, the golden poppy. This postcard has rich embossing on both the floral design and the Cliff House image. Published by Richard Behrendt of San Francisco, this is an especially nice example of our poster-style postcards from the city by the bay.

Price Estimates: The quality of the design and embossing on poster-style postcards will affect the prices. The cards in this post cost between about $15 - $40. This estimate is for postcards in EXCELLENT condition, and it is only an estimate.

Antique EASTER Fantasy CHICKS RABBIT Postcards

2011-04-13T11:06:00.000-07:00

In this post, we look at a selection of Easter fantasy postcards with rabbits, hens, chicks and roosters engaged in human activities and in fantastical settings. From a variety of publishers, these postcards are all nicely embossed, many with gold details added. We begin with Easter animals in different modes of 'modern' transport dating from the early 1900s when these postcards were produced. The postcard above shows chicks on a trolley, Made in Germany published by E.B. and postmarked 1908.

Here a white rabbit chauffeurs some gigantic chicks in their elegant automobile. A big pink egg serves as a headlamp on this classy vehicle. This postcard was postmarked 1910.

Next is a charming image from International Art publishers, possibly the work of Ellen Clapsaddle. Her chicks always seem to have an abundance of personality, and the individual chicks in this open automobile show real individuality. We especially like the motoring goggles. Postmark date on this wonderful postcard is unclear.

Above is a lively scene of chicks dancing to the accordion music - Printed in Germany with rich embossing and witty artwork, vivid colors. This postcard was postmarked 1910.

The postcard above shows a classic Easter fantasy image - rabbits, chicks, angels or children painting gigantic holiday eggs. These dressed rabbits are painting faces on a family of white eggs, the larger eggs wearing hats. This postcard was published by Whitney, and while it has writing on the back it was not mailed. It is probably the most recent of the postcards shown in this post - possibly as late as the 1920s. Below is an image of dressed rabbits and an assertive chick playing in the garden, Mama rabbit watching from the window. This beautiful fantasy has lots of shining gold details, published in Europe, postmarked in 1907.

We fine a very different theme in the image below, one of a series of military-theme Easter fantasies of rabbits in warfare. Here the rabbits are mounted on roosters - they wear colorful uniforms. The pink-coated rabbit has a sword. Published by B.W., printed in Germany, postmarked 1908.

These two nicely dressed chicks are ready for a day on the town, but a slip causes an egg to fall and break. Great facial expressions! This embossed postcard has a solid silver background. Printed in Germany with a little writing on the back but unmailed.

These sweet little chicks are fascinated by an Easter classic from my childhood - do you remember big sugar eggs with die-cut paper stand-up scenes inside? They were so much fun to receive, and such a treat to look into, as these little chicks are doing. This postcard image also appears with rabbits looking into a sugar egg.

Another Easter fantasy classic uses eggs as shelters - here we see a rabbit inside a giant egg. Some of the egg houses are quite fancy, with window curtains and flower boxes. Others, like the egg on this fantasy postcard, are plain. Our rabbit wears a bright red jacket. Nice embossing, postmarked in 1911.

Price estimates: Easter fantasy postcards vary in price depending on how elaborate, embossed or gilded the image may be. The postcards shown in this post range in price from about $8.00 - $15.00. These estimates are for postcards in EXCELLENT condition, and they are only estimates.

PATRIOTIC V for VICTORY WWII Linen Postcards

2011-04-08T12:12:00.000-07:00

In this post we take a look at patriotic postcards from World War II - the first card is by Kropp and we especially like the way certain images (the airplane, the parachute) 'escape' the borders of the large letters to add action to the image. All the rest of the postcards shown in this post were published by Tichnor.

The postcards by Tichnor that we have chosen to show here all have a V for Victory visual theme...here we see a huge red letter V with marching soldiers and warships...note that scale has been sacrificed to dramatic imagery. StriVe for Victory carries through the V idea.

We especially like the simple vivid design of this poster-style card; it reminds us of a flag in concept, and combines our red/white/blue national color scheme very nicely.

The two postcards above show first the military and then the united efforts of the military with our once-strong labor force - a farming image in the foreground and a factory in the background. They show graphically the idea of working together for Victory - how everyone's efforts are needed to win the war. It's disconcerting to think how Labor has lost power and presence in our country since WWII and how that might affect our strength if we needed to participate in another world war.

We already have a post of Keep 'em Flying WWII postcards you might like to see - here's a big V for Victory combined with the theme of keeping our pilots and planes in the air. The American Eagle accompanies these planes on a mission.

The Over the Top postcard once again shows the Army, the Navy and the American worker combining strengths to reach Victory - a design full of action and color.

We close with a colorful image of Uncle Sam rollling up his sleeves to fight for Victory - our national symbol dressed in his traditional red/white/blue outfit...he has taken off his jacket and his tophat to get ready for combat. By the way, the Morse Code on some of these cards( ...- ) translates to V.

Price Estimates: These vivid linen postcards are still a good deal at about $4 - $10 each. Now is a great time to work on your collection of WWII postcards before these prices rise. This estimate is for postcards in excellent condition, and it is only an estimate.

Samuel Schmucker Detroit Publishing Postcards

2011-03-23T11:33:00.000-07:00

In this Samuel Schmucker post, we look at some of the series the artist produced that were published by Detroit Publishing. These are all flat cards with superior artwork, many with gold added. Because some were originally released as early undivided back postcards that only allowed the address on the back, there is white space on the front of the card for the sender's written message. These can sometimes also be found with blank backs, as non-postcards. Above is one from the series where Schmucker has paired beautiful women with ocean creatures - there is one in this series that has a lady with a lobster. The card above is an unused divided back with an early design on the front. You can just barely see the Detroit Publisher emblem in the shape of an artist's palette at lower right, printed in a pale grey. The copyright date is 1907.

This lady with fishes is printed on a blank-back card, and like the opening image has splashes of gold lighting up the design.

The Schmucker women with wings like butterflies and dragonflies are another stunning fantasy series published by Detroit. Like the ocean women, these have a pale Detroit Publishing emblem at lower right. They also have titles in the same pale grey print at lower left. This lady with blue wings is captioned Fragility.

Here we have another flying woman, this time with classic butterfly wings. Her caption is Sensibility. Below we show postcards from the Gnome series - they also have captions printed in very faint lettering.

The Gnome riding the hummingbird has a two line caption: Home is too stupid, dull and dead."I'll see the world," a bold Gnome said. The Gnome shown with a bumblebee has a caption that reads: But scarce his journey had begun When he must needs dismount and run.

Both the Gnome cards shown have blank backs, the Detroit emblem on the bottom right, and gold details added to the fanciful designs. A popular series of the time was Schmucker's CHILDHOOD DAYS

This was a set of six cards which came in an envelope printed with the saying, Ah! What would the world be to us if the children were no more? These postcards have divided backs and each carried a caption that described a childhood moment.

The last fantasy series I have to share in this post puts glamorous and slightly risque ladies together with cocktail glasses. The artwork in this series does not seem as accomplished or confident as the artwork in the series described earlier, but Schmucker's touch can be seen easily in the wry humor of the images. All these series are fun to collect and, though expensive, will only be worth that much more if you are collecting as an investment for the future.

Price Estimates: The postcards shown in this post are not readily available - you will have to search them out at shows and auctions. Expect to pay between $100 - $350 each for them in EXCELLENT condition, although you may find them for slightly less, which would be a true bargain. These prices are only estimates.

Off Color SANTA CLAUS Postcards

2011-03-22T14:27:00.000-07:00

In this post, off-color refers to the delightful variety of Santa Claus postcards in which old St. Nick is NOT wearing red - instead, he appears in purple, blue, green, brown, and occasionally white or black clothing. These turn-of-the-century postcards represent Santa in a variety of settings, with heavenly helpers and sometimes elaborate environments. What makes them extra special is the color of Santa Claus's outfit. Generally harder-to-find and more expensive than red-suit Santa scenes, these are fun additions to any holiday collection. Above we have a dark blue Santa Claus with an Angel, carrying toys and a holiday evergreen tree thru a snowy forest. This card is nicely embossed with silver swirls against a purple marbleized background forming a 'frame' for the central image. The back is divided; there is no publisher given.

This green Santa is having a meeting with some excited children on an early undivided back postcard. All their clothing is decorated with tiny gold designs, and the rest of the image has gold details added, too...nice embossing. Don't miss the gold shooting star in the sky above Santa's head. No publisher indicated.

The Santa on the right is from one of my favorite series - the artwork is especially fine, the colors very vivid and Santa has the gentle expression of someone we would like and welcome into our homes. These designs were printed on soft paper, however, and often have significant edge and corner wear. Nice embossing and lots of bright gold details add to this series' charm. This is a divided back postcard that says Printed in Germany on the back, but that does not state the publisher.

The Santa in a deep chocolate brown outfit carries a big sack down a snowy street in town, past an impressive gate. Santa is rarely shown in such affluent surroundings; usually we find him in the woods or with a town in the distance, so this Santa is a bit unusual in that regard.

The family's Christmas tree is outside and has the stand nailed to the bottom, and golden ornaments...perhaps this is Santa's belated trip to homes he missed on the official Christmas eve run...rich embossing and lots of gold details. A divided back postcard without a publisher's name or logo.

On the right is a popular blue Santa published by Tuck, showing him holding open an enormous bag of toys. This is an early undivided back, so the sender signed on the front. It has light embossing. It must have been a very popular card, since there are still many of them to be found.

On the left, we see Santa in a "white" robe, which is actually a cream or beige color. The children with him have metallics added to their clothing, so that gives this embossed Christmas postcard very colorful accents. The back is divided, and it has Postkarte-Carte Postale with the word postcard then printed in many languages. Again, no specific publisher is given.

The Santa Claus designs above show him in dark green outfits - in one he carries a great big red umbrella to protect him from the falling snow, and in the other he stops to read directions beneath a street lamp. His little helper looks as if she is practicing patience...oh, grown-ups can be tiresome!

Here are two postcards that show reverse images of the same Santa Claus, with a deep turquoise coat in one and a maroon coat in the other. This may be an example of the common habit of one publisher stealing another publisher's artwork, and creating a slightly different - and usually cheaper - version. Our blue Santa has a more elaborate background with a soft sunrise behind clouds and a church on a snowy hilltop. The second Santa is placed on a textured background without artwork. While both the divided backs say Made in Germany, neither names a publisher, so it's difficult to say what created two cards so alike, yet not the same.

Another blue Santa shows him with an entire town scene in the background. His pockets, as well as his sack, are filled with toys. Light embossing on a divided back postcard marked only Printed in Germany. Below we see a blue Santa in a very unusual scene - he is on skis and going down a steep incline. Nice embossing, Printed in Germany, and the Postkarte-Carte Postale in many languages on a divided back.

We finish this post with a close-up of a purple Santa carrying a basket of Christmas treats and toys and a sprig of holly. He is embossed, with gold accents in the banner behind him and the bars on either side of his image...this is a divided back postcard, marked on the back with a B in a diamond, P.C. 285.

Price Estimates: I have always liked Santa Claus postcards showing him in off-color outfits, so I have been collecting them for many years. I paid about $10 - $25 for these postcards in my own collection. Currently, you may expect to pay about $15 - $55, with the Tuck blue Santa the easiest to find and most reasonably priced of any images shown in this post. Top prices will be asked for Santa in unusual designs, like the skiing Santa, and for cards in excellent condition. Remember, these are only estimates.

Samuel Schmucker Postcards for All Seasons

2011-03-20T11:07:00.000-07:00

Samuel Schmucker is one of the most collectable artists on the discriminating deltiologist's

wish list. His artwork is spectacular and sometimes has a macabre touch, like the lady above selecting heart-shaped treats from a candy box with tweezers, in front of a big spider web background. I begin with this Valentine image because it was the first Samuel Schmucker postcard I ever acquired, back in the 1970s. I've been a devoted fan ever since. This post will show a selection of holiday postcards by Samuel Schmucker, all embossed and all published by John Winsch. Many have gold added. I have focused in on the central images on these postcards rather than showing the full cards so you can see Schmucker's style. He produced some sweet holiday postcard designs for Tuck with children on flat cards - those have a spare quality to the drawings. These Winsch images are much more elaborate and intricate. Schmucker rarely signed his artwork. When he did, he used the initials SLS written quite small. Your best method of collecting genuine Samuel Schmucker postcards will be to acquaint yourself with his style and publishers.

Here are two more pretty Valentine images - both of beautiful blonde women. On each, our lovely lady is surrounded by hearts, in a sunburst design and in a rainfall. On both, there is a bright gold background - the postcard on the left has a circular gold panel behind the woman's head. Schmucker often used a circular design behind the main figure.

These cards also showcase the fancy and colorful lettering Winsch used on many postcard designs.

There are quite a few Schmucker images for Thanksgiving, and here again is a large gold circle - this time we can imagine it's a rising or setting sun - creating a special background element for his attractive early American woman.

Some of Schmucker's Thanksgiving designs feature Native American women in harvest settings, also published by John Winsch with rich embossing and strong colors.

Below are some of Schmucker's Christmas holiday designs. The trademark pretty woman is the central element in each postcard.

The Santa Claus postcard shown here features glass beads applied to the woman's hair - these look ordinary in daylight, but shine and twinkle in a darkened room under artificial light. Schmucker created a few odd Santa images, including one where a pretty lady is about to don a Santa Mask, and the one above with what appears to be a Peeping Santa.

The two ladies above Santa Claus, outside on a snowy day, both have the Schmucker circle made of a holiday wreath that 'frames' the background view. In one case, the wreath is made of holly and in the snowman card the wreath is made of misteltoe. The gold backgrounds are embossed with fancy textures.

Here we have a Christmas lady in a bright poinsettia patterned gown with a sunburst-style circle behind her made of poinsettia petals. This holiday series of full-length women in long gowns also features rich embossing and lavish applications of texturned gold.

Some Schmucker postcards can be hard to identify; his popularity also makes wishful dealers label postcards with his name that aren't his work. Here is an example of an Easter fantasy postcard with faces in white blossoms that is often described as a Schmucker. On the left you can see Schmucker's superior artwork, with elegance and subtlety. Once the cards are side-by-side, it's easy to tell the difference. However, the overall design and the 'splashes' of gold ink make us think that the publisher of the white blossom card was trying to cash in on Samuel Schmucker's popularity. Not only is the artwork in the white blossom card inferior to the genuine article, its price is about $10 compared to $50 - $75 for the genuine Schmucker postcard. You can protect yourself by knowing your artist's style.

In a separate post, we will focus on the fantasy designs Samuel Schmucker produced for Detroit publishing. Printed on flat cards with gold added, they are truly exquisite.

Price Estimates: The cards shown in this post usually cost between $45 - $75 depending on where you find them. Some of the Thanksgiving and Christmas designs are more plentiful and may cost as little as $20 if you watch the auctions carefully. We also have a post in this blog featuring Samuel Schmucker New Year designs which are rarer and more expensive. Because they were printed in Series of 4 cards (rather than the usual 6 or 10), the New Year postcards cost more originally and are therefore harder to find. These prices are for postcards in EXCELLENT condition and they are only estimates.

Linen DINER Advertising Postcards 1930-1950

2011-03-05T10:59:00.000-08:00

This post focuses on one of the most popular current linen postcard themes: diners. In our opinion, a true diner is a stand-alone building with the streamlined look of a retired railroad dining car. Wikipedia has some insight into this architectural style of classic diners:

Like a mobile home, the original style diner is narrow and elongated and allows roadway transportation. In the case of the diner, this is a carry-over from the first "true" diners ever built, which were never intended to remain stationary. The original diners (as opposed to "dining wagons") were actual dining cars on railways. When a dining car was no longer fit for service, it was often employed as a cheap restaurant at a (stationary) location near a train station or along the side of the railroad at some other location.

Later, tradition—along with equipment designed to build railcars—kept this size and shape. In this original floorplan, a service counter dominates the interior, with a preparation area against the back wall and floor-mounted stools for the customers in front. Larger models may have a row of booths against the front wall and at the ends. The decor varied over time. Diners of the 1920s–1940s feature Art Deco or Streamline Moderne elements or copy the appearance of rail dining cars (though very few are, in fact, refurbished rail cars). They featured porcelain enamel exteriors, some with the name written on the front, others with bands of enamel, others in flutes. Many had a "barrel vault" roofline. Tile floors were common. Diners of the 1950s tended to use stainless steel panels, porcelain enamel, glass blocks, terrazzo floors, Formica and neon sign trim.

The Wikipedia article describes how, over time, diners left the pre-fab style and began to resemble more traditional restaurants with wallpaper, multiple dining rooms and more conventional exterior architecture. We acknowledge our own purist attitude toward these collectible linen postcards - we don't accept that the illustration is of a diner unless it specifically says DINER on the postcard. To our way of thinking, a cafe is not a diner, nor is a restaurant. Certainly not a hotel dining room! Others may differ. We only collect the most classic images of American diners and, for the sake of your investment, we recommend you do the same.

Our personal favorites include automobiles of the time - the vintage cars add a touch of dated style and help identify the era of the diner's popularity. These linen postcards are often unused; they may have advertising on the back.

Here is a diner without the stainless steel dining car exterior, but it clearly states on the sign that this is a DINER.

This postcard of the Richmond Belle Diner shows a classic streamlined building with an addition on the back, an old woody station wagon parked in front, and a fantastic sign.

Above is another linen diner postcard that shows a stucco exterior with striped awnings, a gas station (another popular collectible in the linen postcards department) and an interior image with a counter and tables with chairs instead of booths.

This Florida diner postcard shows an in-between diner design of a long, narrow building with stucco exterior. Panels of glass brick let in plenty of light and louvered windows let in a breeze. Don't miss the round windows that add a nautical motif to the building. In this multi-view the motel is also shown, as is their boat dock.

There are also interior views of diners that give us a sense of how eating at a diner felt during a busy time of day:

Above is an interior view of a Willow Grove PA diner with the booths and counter described earlier. Diners are casual environments, conducive to meeting friends and sharing basic, inexpensive food we love - burgers, milkshakes, pie and coffee. Think of how often a diner appears in a movie or television show - there's an inner-city diner in BONES, for instance, where conversations often take place among the characters over plates of French fries. There are commercials where a diner counter is used to give the same atmosphere - the diner setting is an evocative one.

More from Wikipedia:

Diners almost invariably serve American food such as hamburgers, french fries, club sandwiches, and so on. Much of the food is grilled, as early diners were based around a grill. There is often an emphasis on breakfast foods such as eggs (including omelettes), waffles, pancakes, and French toast. Some diners serve these "breakfast foods" all day long. Many diners have transparent display cases in or behind the counter for the desserts. It is common with new diners to have the desserts displayed in rotating pie cases. Diners frequently stay open 24 hours a day, especially in cities, making them an essential part of urban culture, alongside bars and nightclubs; these two segments of nighttime urban culture often find themselves intertwined, as many diners get a good deal of late-night business from persons departing drinking establishments. Many diners were historically placed near factories which operated 24 hours a day, with night shift workers providing a key part of the customer base.

There was a classic 24-hour diner near my college dorm in Philadelphia. One night my roommate, who was wakeful and depressed, went down to the diner. There she met an old sailor who, at 3 am over coffee and cigarettes, proposed marriage. She declined, but told me it made her feel much better.

Price Estimates: Diner postcards are available in both linen and chrome varieties. Linens are older and more valuable. Price is also determined by the rarity of the postcard. The Richmond Belle postcard, for instance, is often available and not too expensive. Show dealers tend to price diner linens high - in the $40 - $75 range. It's more advantageous to keep a close watch on auctions, or to search flea markets for diner linens. The postcards shown here cost between $12 - 35. These estimates are for postcards in EXCELLENT condition, and they are only estimates.

The EASTLAND Disaster 1915 Chicago

2011-03-01T12:35:00.000-08:00

This post covers The Eastland Disaster in postcards from 1915. Above is a real photo postcard (RPPC) showing the upturned ship in the Chicago River. All the other postcards in this description are printed. They are shown in the order in which the incident occurred. First, here is a description of the disaster from the internet:

On 24 July 1915, the Eastland and two other Great Lakes passenger steamers, the Theodore Roosevelt and the Petoskey, were chartered to take employees from Western Electric Company's Hawthorne Works in Cicero, Illinois, to a picnic in Michigan City, Indiana. This was a major event in the lives of the workers, many of whom could not take holidays....

On the fateful morning, passengers began boarding the Eastland on the south bank of the Chicago River between Clark and LaSalle Streets around 6.30 a.m., and by 7:10, the ship had reached its capacity of 2752 passengers. The ship was packed, with many passengers standing on the open upper decks, and began to list slightly to the port side (away from the wharf). The crew attempted to stabilize the ship by admitting water to its ballast tanks, but to little avail. Sometime in the next 15 minutes, perhaps owing to a passing canoe race on the river side of the ship, a number of passengers rushed to the port side, and at 7:28, the Eastland lurched sharply to port and then rolled completely onto its side, coming to rest on the river bottom, which was only 20 feet below the surface. Many other passengers had already moved below decks on this relatively cool and damp morning to warm up before the departure. Consequently, hundreds were trapped inside by the water and the sudden rollover; others were crushed by heavy furniture, including pianos, bookcases, and tables. Although the ship was only 20 feet from the wharf, and in spite of the quick response by the crew of a nearby vessel, the Kenosha, which came alongside the hull to allow those stranded on the capsized vessel to leap to safety, a total of 841 passengers and four crew members died in the disaster. Many were young women and children.

Many of the bodies were taken to a cold storage warehouse in the vicinity, which has since been transformed into Harpo Studios, the sound stage for The Oprah Winfrey Show.

This is a postcard showing the Eastland before the disaster.

Here are two postcards showing the ship having rolled. You will see that the top postcard is a printed version of the real photo postcard that begins this post; it may have been taken from the RPPC postcard or these printed views may have been made from newspaper photographers' images at the time.

There are several picture postcards of bodies being removed from the hull.

Note that the faces of the dead have been blanked out, perhaps out of sensitivity or perhaps to prevent complaints from bereaved family members of the deceased.

Some of the postcards have captions; others seem self-explanatory. Here, bodies are laid out awaiting identification.

In the last image, we see a memorial service for those who were lost in the disaster.

Price Estimates: Disasters were popular collectible postcard images in the early 1900s - dramatic and moving - there are some disasters that were covered in great detail, like the San Francisco Quake and Fire, and others that have few preserved postcard images. The more images there are, of course, the less expensive they are. So a comprehensive album of San Francisco Quake and Fire postcards can be assembled relatively cheaply, especially if purchased in lots (expect to pay $3 - $10 per postcard). The Eastland Disaster has limited images - they are more expensive (up to $25 each). Local photographers created real photo postcards of nearby tornado damage, fires, floods and railroad wrecks to sell to the local residents, who sent the postcards to their friends. They are a sub-set of real photo postcards and quite interesting to collect. The main problem is that they often lack captions. Because the residents of the town knew about their local disaster, they apparently didn't think labeling the location was important. Now, 100 years later, we can find dramatic images that are 'unidentified'. A location (which can be supplied by a caption, a postmark, or a message the sender has written on the card) adds significantly to the value of the postcard. Real photo postcards of identified disasters will cost more than printed postcards. Prices are for postcards in EXCELLENT condition, and they are only estimates.

The PHOTOGRAPHER's DAUGHTER

2011-02-23T13:23:00.000-08:00

Do you know the little girl in pink on the right of this real photo postcard?

If you have been collecting real photo postcards of women and children, you might recognize her. All that I know about her is that most of the postcards showing her were made in Germany, but I suspect she was a photographer's daughter and this is why - she appears from toddlerhood to mature womanhood (there are even poses of her holding children in her lap) throughout the popular years of real photo postcards (RPPC). In this post, we will have a chance to see her at different ages. If you are wondering how ubiquitous her image was, I should tell you that I bought all these cards in one evening on eBay. When you begin looking for her, you will find her everywhere!

Here she appears with another little girl who also poses in the photo postcard above - the photographer's daughter is in the middle and the little girl we see in the center of the 'singers' is at the top of this rope ladder. Maybe the little girl at the bottom of the ladder is the child with pink bows above...what do you think?

Below we see an image of the photographer's daughter when she is a little older. She is quite a distinctive-looking child and once you have identified her gently rounded face, dark eyes and curly hair, you will have little difficulty picking her out.

Here is our girl in a stylish hat and frock, wearing a look of adolescent solemnity. The lace on her dress has been hand-colored with white details to make it stand out and delicate tinting has been added to her clothing and her rosy cheeks. Her flowers have been colored bright pink.

As an adult, the photographer's daughter retains her most distinctive features - here we see two images of her all grown-up and looking glamorous. Her family must have been very proud of her, and countless collectors must have admired her beauty, too!

In this post, we have explored a little mystery in the deltiologist's hobby - if you have a favorite mystery you'd like to share or learn more about, let me know. I would enjoy hearing about it and exploring a solution!

Ellen Clapsaddle ST. PATRICK'S DAY Postcards

2011-02-23T13:01:00.000-08:00

In this post we look at some St. Patrick's Day designs on antique postcards, all by the famed postcard artist Ellen Clapsaddle. Clapsaddle designs were enormously popular, and often seem to have been pirated by anonymous publishers, who used her designs in lesser 'knock-off' postcards sometimes with blurry images or no embossing. Her work with International Art publishing appears to all be embossed. Later, when she moved to Germany, she crafted many designs for Wolf publishing that were produced on flat cards. The devastation of World War I ruined the Wolf publishing company, leaving Clapsaddle without an income. She returned to the United States with some help from the owner of the Wolf company.

All the postcards in this post are nicely embossed, and all have vivid green coloring to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Some have gold added for additional sparkle! Clapsaddle created an entire population of St. Patrick's Day celebrants, lovely ladies, men and children.

As you can see, Clapsaddle's pretty ladies have cheerful expressions on sweet faces...they also appear in the traditional green clothing with a favorite emblem of Ireland alongside...shamrocks in pots, baskets and posies.

Some sources report that there are over 2,000 different Clapsaddle postcard designs - so if you have an interest in this much-loved artist, you can build quite a collection! While she is well-known for her adorable children, we are especially fond of her fantasy designs (see the Shamrock airship in our first card at the top of this post) and her ladies. Keep your eye out on internet listings for artist-signed Clapsaddle or the initials of her International Art Publishers in the title/listing...IAP. At a show, most dealers recognize Clapsaddle postcards, so you can ask if they have them in a special location...of course, you will also want to take a quick tour through their holiday and 'children' sections to see if you can find a Clapsaddle treasure.

Price estimates: Clapsaddle postcards come with and without her signature; as a general rule, the signed ones are more valuable. As with all antique postcards, the clarity of the design, the quality of the embossing and the overall condition of the card will make a big difference in the value. Expect to pay about $8.00 - $12.00 for commonly available cards and up to $50.00 for harder-to-find images. There are also embossed and signed Clapsaddle Halloween designs which go in the hundreds. These estimates are for cards in EXCELLENT condition, and they are only estimates.

Pretty LADIES with CUPID on Antique VALENTINE Postcards

2011-02-05T08:28:00.000-08:00

We begin this Valentine's Day post with a fantasy image of a Pretty Lady inside a rose. We have quite a collection of fantasies, and pretty ladies (or children) inside flowers constitute a genre by themselves. Here on this embossed postcard with a gold background, Cupid has arrived with a Valentine's card in an envelope, the heart peeking out at the top. This post focuses on combinations of lovely ladies with Cupid, with him sometimes shown offering advice to the love-struck. Of course, Cupid appears on Valentines in many settings; here he is a companion, advisor or - sometimes - an attacker!

This postcard has detailed embossing and 'silk' (the term for a smooth fabric added to an antique postcard) applied to the lady's coat and to red hearts. Cupid appears with a paintpot, apparently coloring the hearts red. He offers a big fabric one, in the role of a gentle helper. Nice gold swirls form a 'frame' around the central image and lavish applications of blue forget-me-nots add color contrast.

This antique postcard combines lots of blue forget-me-nots (perfect flowers for a Valentine!) with a wonderful open automobile that has gold added to the visible parts. Cupid, that rascal, is about to shoot an arrow that seems aimed at our heroine's neck...fortunately the mph in automobiles of this vintage hovered in the 20s...so the accident that appears about to happen may not cause much damage.

Here we have a calmer image, although Cupid has presented our Lady with a pierced heart - his favorite kind. She's wearing a truly fantastic outfit with a fashionable large hat. This postcard features a rose tree forming a 'frame' for the central image.

Below are images of Cupid offering advice, whispered in our Lady's ear. These are two embossed examples of Cupid as Advisor.

The colorful image below illustrates one of the challenges in classifying antique Valentine postcards...we have asked this question before: Isn't there just ONE Cupid? How are we to distinguish him from Angels? Sometimes Cupid is shown with wings and sometimes not. He usually has a quiver of arrows and a bow, sometimes a pierced heart as we see above. So we imagine that the winged companions on this Valentine's Day postcard are all Angels - the one closest to the Lady is blowing a bubble heart with a tiny bubble pipe...and you will note that s/he is perched inside a flower. A beautiful embossed image with fantasy elements.

On the left is another fantasy image - this time both the Lady and Cupid are inside flowers, Spring tulips in red and white with embossed details. A lovely design for Valentine's Day with the classic pierced hearts and a poetic greeting at the bottom.

Price estimates: Valentine Cupid postcards vary in value largely because of the intricacy and rarity of the design. Top quality artwork makes a big difference and a premium will be paid for Valentines from the top publishers: PFB, Nister, Tuck. All the postcards shown in this post are embossed and some have added gilding. The fashion in silk postcards ebbs and flows - these postcards are currently undervalued in our opinion. Prices for these postcards range from $5 to $15 at auction, somewhat higher in the eBay stores. Check the auctions and bid conservatively, or seek these at postcard shows - some dealers wll ask a lot, other dealers will be more reasonable. These prices are for postcards in EXCELLENT condition, and they are only estimates.

NEW YEAR Elves & Gnomes on Antique Postcards

2011-01-03T09:06:00.000-08:00

Elves (or Gnomes) appear on a wide variety of antique postcards - in this post, we look at a few who are decorating New Year postcards. Above are two from a beautifully embossed series where the Elves are gathering money from the moon (wouldn't that be nice?) and putting bags of New Year coins down a lucky family's chimney. The moon, and other details, are shining with gold added. In parts of Europe, Elves in red hats are sometimes described as Santa, but we like to maintain a distinction between Father Christmas and these diminutive forest dwellers.

The Elves on the embossed blue cards below are blowing horns to welcome in the New Year; they appear with the classic New Year midnight clock. Why do all the elves have long beards? If you know the answer, we would love to hear it!

Another great midnight clock card shows the Elves with bags of coins, with one climbing a ladder to adjust the hands of the clock, the other holding a horn to announce the New Year. The horn player has keys on his belt, and the clock sports a fine sun-face on the pendulum. Superior artwork along with bright colors and gold added make this an especially good Elf New Year design.

In this European flat postcard the Elves are building a snowman - cooperation is needed to make the snowman as big as they want him...they also have white beards.

Our last entry in this category of New Year Elf postcards shows shamrocks (or four-leaf clovers) for good luck and champagne for good cheer...a lively celebration of Elves with a horseshoe decoration to further the Good Luck message!

Price Estimates: Elf postcards can be acquired at reasonable prices, from about $6.00 to $15.00 depending on condition and the elaborateness of the design, with embossing and metallic gold or silver adding to the value. They are a fun sub-set of holiday designs, and liven up a collection with their fanciful artwork. Remember, these estimates are for cards in EXCELLENT condition and they are only estimates.

HTL Hold to Light Postcards - Rare and Wonderful!

2011-01-02T08:48:00.000-08:00

This post focuses on Hold to Light (HTL) postcards, which come in two basic types - die-cut and transparency. We will look at both types here. Die-cut HTLs have several layers - on the front of the card openings have been cut allowing light to shine through the colored paper layer inside the card. These come in a variety of designs, from simple Easter flowers to rare and fancy designs. We love to collect New Year Date postcards so the image above was especially appealing to us. Around each numeral you can see little ovals cut in the front layer. Inside, colored paper allows bright light-up spots when the card is held to a light source.

These pretty girls look like the unsigned artwork of Frances Brundage, with rosy cheeks, big eyes and sweet expressions. They are smiling from inside 1908 numerals with die-cut flowers.

These cheery snowmen hold forget-me-not numerals with die-cut yellow circles. This postcard also has colorful HTL lettering at the bottom. All of these year date cards have rich embossing.

Here we show two more beautifully embossed die-cut HTLs - the Christmas Angel perches in a tree decorated with starry candles and garlands that glow when held to light. The Valentine card on the right features more fine artwork by Frances Brundage and a variety of die-cut embellishments from the windows in the background to the stars in the nighttime sky.

The second type of HTLs feature transparency images that appear different when held to light. These are flat cards and there is nothing visible, until you hold them to a light, to hint at what is hidden within. The Paris exposition of 1900 produced lots of great transparencies, published by Meteor. A search in titles and descriptions on eBay for Meteor (Hold to Light, HTL) will show you a variety of these - frequently they change from a day-view to a night-view when held to light, with a moon appearing in the sky, reflections on water, etc.

There are transparencies which show people in a space that appears blank when the postcard is not held to light - some of these have risque themes with a provocatively dressed lady appearing at the gentlemen's restaurant table, for instance. There are some Christmas HTLs that show children, a tree, then add Santa Claus when held to light. We show two transparency postcards that show famous women performers of the time as marble statues who are transformed to warm-blooded women when held to light. The first is Guerrero, who appears seated in a wicker chair, holding a cigarette and wearing a flower-patterned shawl when held to light.

The second famous performer, Otero, appears in many real photo postcards - she was extremely popular. Here she is portrayed as a statue first, and in a fancy Spanish-style outfit when held to light. These are published in France, and have French instructions on the front, telling us to hold the image to a light.

There are so many different kinds of Hold to Light postcards that you can choose the sort you wish to collect, from U.S. scenes to risque designs. These cards are surprising to people who do not collect, so if you want to demonstrate how much fun postcard collecting can be to non-believers, showing them a transparency will usually do the trick!

Price estimates: Hold to light postcards of both types are very desirable. As with all cards, condition and the complexity of the design will count when the price is being set. You can spend hundreds of dollars on Santa Claus HTLs or as little as $10 on the simplest transparencies - and everything in-between. Prices range from about $35 - $100 for the cards in this post, with the embossed die-cuts costing the most. Remember that these prices are for cards in EXCELLENT condition, and they are only estimates.

NEW YEAR ANGEL Postcards

2010-12-26T08:52:00.000-08:00

We begin 2011 with a post for Angel-lovers as they appear on turn-of-the-century New Year postcards. Angels appear with many classic New Year accoutrements, and also combine with the technological marvels of the early 1900s to add a 'modern' touch to the greetings our ancestors were sending to friends and family.

The first card in our post shows an EAS-published design of an Angel driving in the New Year in a shamrock-bedecked automobile. Wherever found on early 1900s postcards, the green four-leaf clover is a symbol of Good Luck. Traditional New Year postcards feature symbols of good luck and wealth. In this post we see both these traditional designs and some unusual images. Below is an Angel rowing pink blossoms into the New Year in a wooden shoe. Like all the postcards in this post, it has nice embossing.

One of our favorite series shows a variety of Angels riding New Year bells in what appears to be the arched opening in a belltower. They have rich embossing and bright shining metallics added - this series appears with either silver or gold, and we show two examples here.

Some of the Angels in this series are sweet like the one on the left (who may have lost his wings, unless they are tucked behind him). The one on the right is more sensual and even a bit sulky...in any case, they all wear the skimpy scarves or ribbons we see here. The traditional bell is for ringing in the beginning of a New Year, and bells appear with Angels, children, Father Time and on simpler New Year designs, too.

Below we see a glorious Angel in a belltower. She holds a hammer to ring the bell, and a golden star lights up the dark sky behind her. Magnificent colors, and, again, very rich embossing. This is an early undivided back postcard so the sender has written a message on the front in the spaces provided.

Here is an Angel with the classic image of wealth - golden coins that fill a big bag, overflowing in a dramatic image of financial success. The smiling Angel wears a pink gown, a pink floral headdress and even has pink-tinged wings. Pink roses complete the unusual color scheme. In other New Year cards, the gold coins appear with elves, pigs, children, pretty ladies and pouring out of purses.

Below is an Angel with another classic New Year image - the Midnight Clock which appears in many New Year postcards.

Here the clock is decorated with red clover and green shamrocks, and our little Angel holds bells - a postcard that combines several symbolic details.

The last postcard in our Angel New Year post shows an unusual scene published by B.W....proving that even heavenly little Angels can overindulge during the holidays.

Price Estimates: Angel postcards vary widely in design and price and can be purchased between about $5 and $20. The ones shown here are all embossed, and most have gold or silver details added. In EXCELLENT condition, they cost about $10 to $20. Remember, these prices are only estimates.

Buyer Beware - Warnings & Pet Peeves

2010-10-31T16:00:00.000-07:00

We have been buying, collecting and selling postcards since the 1970s, so we have had plenty of opportunities to make mistakes - we hope to warn you against making the same ones. Our thirty-plus years of deltiology have also given us many opportunities to gather pet peeves. Here we present both.

Buyer Beware
This old rule - that the buyer needs to have a healthy dose of self-protection - applies to collecting postcards as it does in any purchasing situation. Dealers often fail to mention the imperfections on their postcards from simple soil to terrible tears. Sometimes they have not noticed the flaw; sometimes they are choosing not to mention it. Look carefully whether you are buying online or at a show.

At a show, put aside all the cards that you are considering buying from any given dealer and then, when you are finished searching, go over the cards carefully, taking your time. If the cards are in sleeves, and they usually are, you may wish to remove the cards for a closer inspection; sleeves hide a multitude of flaws.

When buying online, search beyond the seller's description. Even when you trust the seller, examine the card carefully. The best sellers can make mistakes. Plus, there is NO reliable way of evaluating the difference between grades of quality as they are used by sellers. For instance, we have seen both VERY GOOD and EXCELLENT condition used to describe postcards with tears, ink stains, large creases, pinholes and other significant flaws.

IF the flaw cannot be clearly seen in the photo on the listing AND the seller has not mentioned the flaw in the listing, you may be able to return the postcard for a return - we encourage you to do so, as returning postcards that are poorly described helps to keep sellers honest. You may have to pay the return postage, which doesn't seem fair, but is the usual manner of accepting returns. At Postcardiva, we pay postage both ways if the error is ours but many sellers will not offer you this.

Pet Peeves - We always feel peeved when sellers use non-descriptions such as "over 100 years old!" (yes, we know)... "wear appropriate for age" ... "normal wear" ... "expected wear" ... "typical wear" ... (there is no such thing...you can find a postcard of any age that is near mint, and the exact same card in a condition indicating it has been used to scrub the floor.)... "nice condition" or "great condition" without any details (what does that mean?)

More Buyer Beware
Your best bet in receiving postcards in the condition you expect is to ask questions and to examine the picture on the listing very carefully before you bid or buy. If the photo on the listing is small or underexposed, we recommend skipping the listing...it's easy to upload a good quality photo of items for sale and we are suspicious of sellers who choose not to do so. Also, we know that buyers can be at fault. We have purchased desirable cards in a fit of excitement and found when the postcard arrived that a flaw was visible - but we missed it.

We attended an eBay seminar where the speaker said "rare" was the most over-used word in eBay listings and we have noticed this is true in postcard listings. If you have a good library of postcard guides, you will have a way to research if the postcard is indeed rare. Another way to check is to look in the eBay Stores and Completed Listings to make a price comparison. You may find several of the cards you saw in the Auction listing available in Stores for more or less than the Auction opening bid. Shop both carefully and completely and you will find cards you want at prices you can afford.

Today is Halloween, which reminds me of another odd problem. We've seen labeling of postcards that is just wrong...for instance, European Easter witches flying on brooms listed as Halloween postcards. Also, Thanksgiving postcards with pumpkins can be listed as (the more valuable) Halloween postcards. Look carefully!

There are so many Buyer Beware points when purchasing Real Photo postcards that we will devote an entire post to RPPCs later.

More Pet Peeves - We are always irritated when sellers label ordinary cards as though they are the artwork of popular artists. We don't pretend to know everything about every artist - there are fat books about this - but we do recognize how sellers try to glamorize their listings by attaching Flatscher, Brundage or Schmucker to listings of postcards with uninspired artwork. We collect those three artists, and don't like to see their illustrious names attached to poor quality designs. The fact that so many of their images are unsigned opens the door for unscrupulous or ignorant dealers to use the artists' names on designs that are not theirs. Your best protection against this is to know the work of your favorite artists so well that you can recognize their style. When in doubt, either question the dealer (we have sometimes learned valuable information this way) or refer to your guidebooks.

More Buyer Self-care
We recommend you limit your collection with a few basic rules. Rules are personal - you will decide what rules you want to use. The purpose in limiting your collection interests is to keep you from becoming crazy (or destitute) following up on every attractive card you see. Because we consider our collection an investment, for instance, we do not knowingly buy cards that have flaws. We will wait a long time to find a card we like in excellent condition, passing up those that appear with creases, bends, corner chips or marks to the front. We have also chosen - arbitrarily - not to collect black and white artwork or state views (except California and Florida, our two 'home' states). With these rules, we have managed to keep our collection to a workable number. Most people find they have special interests and some collectors only purchase one specific kind of card, like Advertising or Indiana views. We have been at shows and met people who only collect hospitals or images of people vomiting (true, I swear) and once read about a lady who only collected postcards of cows with one foot in the snow. Now, that is a limited collection!

Do you have your own pet peeves, shopping experiences or buyer warnings to share? We would like to hear about them!

Lots and Lots of BABIES - Multi-baby Fantasy Postcards

2010-10-23T10:01:00.000-07:00

In this post we look at the charming and odd multi-baby or multi-babies postcards...these were published in France, and are flat cards with lots of babies (and sometimes toddlers) placed in a variety of settings. We begin with babies driving around in an automobile with a stork (probably from one home to another, dropping off babies along the way), and with babies perched, sleeping and seated in nests on tree branches.

A more unusual multi-baby card shows babies and some young children with an old-fashioned fire engine. The ladder is 'decorated' with children. Some of the children have dresses, suits, odd hats, a number with military flair. Others are dressed only in nightgowns or underwear. Each child has its own attitude, and, because these are collages, the scale is not always consistent.

Below, the babies are on a round amusement park ride, lots of babies squeezed into the seats.

Here are children riding in a hot-air balloon far above the town, with lots of pretty girls, a child with a tophat and little babies in the rigging. There's a big balloon, a basket, but no heater - keeping in mind the safety of the babies, no doubt.

One of the most fascinating themes in the multi-baby realm shows babies drinking milk from a cow - here is an example of four little ones and a placid bovine tolerating the feeding process.

Below we see a bicycle race with little children riding and also filling the bleachers as spectators. Again, the scale is erratic and the riders vary from tiny babies to children with Victorian outfits.

A later version of the multi-baby postcard is a real photo collage of babies on an airplane. Note the scale - the babies are either very large or the airplane is very small. Nice tinting adds a healthy pink shade to the naked babies, some of whom have luggage. What, do you suppose, is in those suitcases?

During and after World War I, a series of multi-baby postcards were produced in France that alluded to baby soldiers and to re-populating the country after the losses in combat. Below are two patriotic multi-baby postcards - both tinted photo montages - with infant soldiers among flags and a chariot of Victory drawn through the sky by doves.

We close with another early 1900s multi-baby image - one of my favorite printed baby scenes - showing the infants in an orchestra, each child with an instrument, and a baby serving as Conductor. Delightful, humorous imagery to add to any postcard collection!

Price Estimates: Multi-baby postcards were made of flat, soft paper and often have noticeable edge and corner wear. Finding them in Excellent condition is difficult. Therefore, this price estimate is for cards with some edge/corner wear but without holes, tears or significant creases. Prices range from $5 - $18 depending on how common or rare the image is; pictures of babies in cabbages, women plucking babies from ponds or carrying babies in buckets are common and at the lower end of the price range. Postcards of rare images and/or in superior condition are at the higher end.

Mechanical Antique Postcards

2010-10-07T08:22:00.000-07:00

This post focuses on MECHANICAL postcards - we define mechanicals as postcards that move, that change, that DO something. Although some dealers use the word "mechanical" for cards that do not fit this criteria, we feel strongly that the term should be reserved for cards like those shown here. Our first illustration is a risque mechanical - when you open the door a lady in the bathtub is revealed.

The children on this Easter mechanical change to a lady with a dressed rooster when the tab is pulled. This type of mechanical is sometimes called a "venetian blind" card. Santa Claus cards of this type are a wonderful addition to a holiday collection. This type of card is also available with risque scenes. Children love mechanicals - the pull-tab type of mechanical postcard can be found in newer, less expensive postcards. One popular pull-tab postcard shows an alligator and the pull-tab opens and closes his mouth. When you are shopping for postcards to give a child, we recommend you look for fun postcards that are low in price - children may enjoy their postcards without taking terrifically good care of them, and you don't want to be anxious about cost and care.

The Thanksgiving Turkey postcard is an example of "kaleidoscope" mechanicals where the wheels on the side of the card allow a colorful striped disk behind the die-cut design to be turned. This creates a wonderful moving effect, and these postcards come in many holiday and greeting designs - an Easter egg, a butterfly, a dancer, a lighthouse, some stunning Christmas and New Year images and more.

The lady standing outside a house with a pink flowering tree is an example of "calendar" mechanicals, where wheels allow the day and date to be changed for the occasion. These are mostly designed to be birthday or holiday postcards, and there is quite a variety. Although they are colorful and often embossed, these can be acquired quite easily.

Here is a pretty girl on a calendar mechanical with a mailbox. The colors and embossing are superb, yet this card can be purchased at a reasonable price. The series includes an assortment of lovely girls.

This ship themed mechanical postcard has a fuzzy plush background and a die-cut ship that stands up from the background. We show it flat and with the die-cut standing. The colors are applied to the highly-embossed image by airbrush with brilliant blue forget-me-nots and gold details.

The last postcard in our selection of mechanicals is a French postcard for the soldier to keep track of how many days he has remaining to serve. In other words, it was an early count down device! Very colorful, with wheels for the date today and the remaining days at the bottom.
Price Estimates: Prices for mechanicals vary according to the rarity, condition, and theme. At the most reasonably-priced end of the spectrum we find the calendar and stand-up postcards, which may be purchased for about $10-$15 each, or even less if you are a careful shopper. As we move up the value scale, the kaleidoscope postcards cost between $30 - $50 each. All the pull-tabs (including "venetian blinds") range from $15 up to high prices for the rare images - risque, Santa Claus, etc. These estimates are for postcards in EXCELLENT condition, and they are only estimates.

GIBSON Art Deco HALLOWEEN Postcards

2010-10-03T12:04:00.000-07:00

This post focuses on Gibson-published Halloween cards, with brilliant colors on flat designs. Art deco cards, produced from about 1915-1920s, are becoming more popular as the competition among collectors to purchase top quality postcards from 1898-1915 becomes more intense. Also, art deco styling is growing in appreciation and value in every form, from artwork to furniture, and that increases the prices of these fun Halloween postcards, also. The Gibson postcards with Halloween designs can be whimsical, such as the series shown here with spooky jack o' lanterns and surprised children with their pets. The children wear court jester costumes in bright colors - we love the color palette used in these designs!

Another series has a bright orange and black 'checkerboard' trim around the edges; here is an example. In this image we see the same pumpkin with a surprised child suited up in a traditional clown costume. The color scheme is more subtle and restrained, relying on the images for impact.

The cat border marks one of the most highly valued Gibson Halloween designs - these cards cost over $100 each and any purchase of them below $100 should be considered an excellent bargain for any collector.

The two cards here with little girls show off the same humorous artwork combination...jolly pumpkins scaring the kids on vibrant backgrounds with bright - even startling - colors.

In a slightly more sinister vein, a black cat blows a holiday horn and appears to dance with a ghostly character sporting a jack o' lantern head...

We finish this post with a witty Gibson Halloween design that uses a spider web as a background for our tumbling little girl in her jester-clown outfit with pointed hat. A witch rides through the orange sky, or may have become entangled in the web, while a belltower holds down the left side of the image.

Price Estimates: Like all art deco design, these vivid postcards are increasing in price. Expect to pay from $25 - $40 for the orange designs, and (as described) over $100 for the designs in the popular cat-border series. These prices are for postcards in EXCELLENT condition, and they are only estimates.

Whitney HALLOWEEN Postcards

2010-10-02T16:23:00.000-07:00

Whitney published postcards, as I have mentioned in a previous post, seem to suffer from being too new, too simple or just too sweet. For whatever reason, they are priced lower than other antique postcards. Some of the Valentine, Christmas and Easter images are certainly less imaginative and elaborate than the works of other publishers, often lacking embossing. And those Whitney holiday postcards frequently feature cute children, with the emphasis on cute.

While collectors who treasure fine artwork may focus on postcards published by Paul Finkenrath Berlin, Meissner & Buch, Faulkner, Winsch and other publishers, I urge you to examine Whitney postcards more closely and evaluate whether there is a place for some of them in your collection. In this post, we look at some Whitney Halloween postcards, all of which are embossed. Above is an image of the Whitney little pumpkin heads bobbing for apples in a night scene lit by a big yellow moon. A black Halloween cat arches its back - probably scared of children with jack o' lantern heads.

Here is one of my favorite Halloween images from Whitney,

with a cheery child in a jack o' lantern clown costume, standing between two tall metallic gold candleholders, an art deco design with bright colors and shining gold details.

A wonderful series of owls and cats communing in the woods offers huge yellow moons surrounded by shining golden spatter. Here is one of this series, where the two well-known Halloween icons appear to be comparing claws. The blue sky and misty leaves make a fine contrast with the other colors that light up this design.

The impish rascal on the right plays in a soft blue evening sky with a big pale moon, shining gold stars and white fireworks above dark trees and a house, outlined with shining gold lines. This design includes nearly day-glo colors on the imp, with turquoise skin and brilliant orange cap and shoes. Is this a true Halloween design? We choose to put it in our Halloween collection, based on its greeting: Stay at home though the moon shines bright, for Elves are floating around in its light.

Below is another charming pumpkin head design, with the black cats feeling much more playful in this scene. The lettering is in gold and it says, The blackest cats that ever were seen wish you good luck this Halloween. Looks as though one pumpkin head has carved a pumpkin head for the cats. One cat is already sporting his costume, and another is about to be slipped into his feline pumpkin head. I don't know any cats that would tolerate this sort of hilarity, but this is a fantasy postcard after all.

We close with an example of an unusual fun series from Whitney that pairs the usual black cats and pumpkins with an unexpected group of dressed mice, all celebrating together like Halloween holiday pals.

Price Guide: Whitney Halloween postcards are rapidly increasing in price. We paid $18 and up for the ones shown in this post, but they have about doubled in price since then. You may still be able to get some bargains in the $20 - $30 range. On eBay, you can put in a Search for Whitney Halloween if you are interested in being alerted when new listings appear.

An International Postcard Exchange

2010-09-20T15:51:00.000-07:00

I'm delighted to add a link at the bottom of the Postcardiva blog to postcrossing.com, which is an easy and fun way to exchange postcards with people around the world. Check this out - I think you'll like it! It would also make a great activity for a youngster who loves to get "real mail".

NOVELTY Postcards - Add-ons, Silk, Velvet, Real Hair & More

2010-09-13T09:03:00.000-07:00

Novelty postcards are full of surprises - with such a wide variety available, you can add novelties to almost any existing collection. They are the perfect way to begin a youngster's collection, because children love the unusual and humorous charms of novelty postcards. Plus, novelty cards have been produced from the early 1900s until modern times, so there are lots of novelties to choose from when selecting for your own collection or for a young friend's.

In this post, we begin with simple novelties and progress to some more expensive types. Above, velvety rabbits decorate an Easter postcard. Fabric attachments included velvet, "silk" which is the term used for almost any shiny fabric, felt, and other materials as the subject required (for instance, there is a padded pin cushion novelty postcard of a lady's big bottom in plaid cotton). Here are a big purple velvety Iris bloom, and a padded red "silk" heart.

This pretty silver postcard has die-cut (or die cut) edges, adding to its fancy charm. Die cuts could be on the edges of a postcard or in the center of the design as we see in the booklet novelty postcard with yellow roses. This greeting card "opens" which is another form of novelty - the booklet-style of card that had pages inside for printed or hand-written good wishes.

Attachments or "add-ons" are another category of novelty postcards. The greeting booklet above has a ribbon tied hinge, and ribbons are popular attachments. Novelties also come with dried flowers, beads, feathers, spring tails for animals, "fur" or "hair" which is not real even if it says so in the dealer's advertisement, little envelopes in which notes could be stashed, and even unusual attachments like cigar labels, bags of salt on linen postcards from Utah's Salt Lake, or seeds as shown on this St. Patrick's Day postcard.

There are some fun postcards with cut-out holes so that fingers can be inserted to create a lady's legs, even a donkey's ears. Children find these amusing, and they especially like "squeaker" cards that had a little squeaker placed between the layers of the postcard, with an air hole, so that pressing the center of the card created a squeaking sound. "Google" or "googly" eye creatures are another popular novelty for kids - all sorts of animals in vibrant colors inhabit these cards with add-on eyes that roll when shaken.

Metal add-ons may incorporate a metal charm into the design (turkeys on Thanksgiving cards, for instance, or Happy Birthday lettering on a floral design) or be the whole of the design as shown on this Best Wishes card with a metal shamrock as well as lettering. These cards are made of heavier-than-usual stock to accommodate the prongs that held the metal attachments in place.

Another form of novelty is the postcard with exceptional embossing, as shown in this Easter design of chicks and a huge egg. These may be referred to as "heavy" or "extra" embossing, and the colors were usually applied with airbrush. Some are simple and crude - this is an example of a fine-quality postcard where the colors are elaborately designed and carefully applied.

Novelties include postcards made of unusual materials - in this group we include wooden, copper, celluloid and leather postcards. Fold-out (called Pullout in Europe) novelties have accordion-folded views inside the postcard which are revealed when a flap is lifted. The bathing beauties are an example of this - they are sometimes listed as MECHANICAL postcards so we suggest you look in both categories when you are searching for these.

More elaborate silk novelties include those greetings and holidays where fabric clothing is applied to an already colorful, and usually embossed, design. These Easter girls are an example:

Above are two New Year novelty postcards, both with the date in the design and with attached calendars. Each calendar has pages inside showing the months and days. The one on the left also has fringe attached, and a blue bow at the top.

Here is an unusual novelty with a lady behind an added metal screen that is attached to the postcard with the edges secured between the postcard's layers. The entire effect is that of a screen door - she is waiting for a fellow to come and invite her out, and she has picked out the day when he should show up for their date.

Our last and most expensive novelty in this post is the Santa Claus with a beard add-on. These postcards, as well as the pretty ladies with hair attached, are usually advertised as "real hair" although, of course, the hair is not actually real. Santa is shown here on an embossed postcard with beautiful colors and a Christmas design including toys, evergreens and colorful holly.

PRICE ESTIMATES: Simple novelties may be purchased for about $5 and up, and middle-range novelties for $10 and up. The complexity of the design, the quality of the artwork, and the richness of the embossing on holiday cards will add to the price, as will the rarity of the novelty. Very unusual or hard-to-find novelties will cost more - "real hair" Santa Claus cards can cost up to $200 or more. These are prices for cards in Excellent condition, and they are only estimates.

FANTASY Postcards - Subjects to Suit Any Collector

2010-09-12T11:44:00.000-07:00

Fantasy postcards come in such a wide variety of designs and ideas that you are sure to find some to add to your collection, no matter what your main interest may be. In this post, we cover just a few of the categories that are available.

We begin with a pair of hunting dogs - literally. Our canine friends are out for game, their guns at the ready. Dog and Cat fantasies are popular, and there are many series to look for. If you collect cameras or automobiles, for instance, you can find dogs, cats, birds and holiday fantasies with those themes. Here is a fine early dog-and-camera image with a space left blank on the front for the sender to write a message as the undivided back postcards allowed only the address to be written on the back:

Little girls and pretty women are favorite themes for fantasy postcards. Some are witty, some odd, but we like the pretty ones best. Here are two embossed examples of girls-in-flowers, a popular combination:

The girl dressed up as a pink blossom on the right is from a series of flat cards signed by the artist, Dulk. In each postcard image, a girl portrays a different flower with dress and hat adding to the illusion.

Pretty youngsters with unusual rides comprise a large sub-group of the fantasy genre. We offer two examples in this post - a cheerful angel in a peach dress astride a flying bird, and a Tuck-published greeting of a little girl in an aqua dress riding a colorful big butterfly or moth. These are both nicely embossed.

Here is a very different fantasy - an advertisement for a bicycle. The long caption reads: FLOYD McFARLAND, the celebrated bicyclist, with an Eclipse Coaster Brake, at Broadway and Chambers Street, New York.

Changing the scale of elements in the image is just one type of fantasy - there are a variety of examples, including the real photo postcards, called Exaggerations, with huge animals and insects combined with smaller humans...hunters carrying enormous rabbits, men riding giant grasshoppers, etc. Exaggeration fantasies have been produced right through the linen era to the chrome era...one enduring image is that of a cowboy riding a gigantic rabbit that appears through every era of postcard production.

A different kind of scale-fantasy shows us a toddler in a colorful embossed Birthday greeting, 'nesting' with two great big birds. The riding fantasies are also examples of scale variation, and we offer another below, produced in France, of a little girl being given a ride on a leafy branch, pulled along by birds.

The last fantasy here shows a scale variation with a huge daisy. Angel and Cupid designs are sometimes classified as Fantasy postcards, although we generally prefer to give them their own names, as we do with Santa Claus and Halloween designs. We include this card, though, because it combines several fantasy ideas: the very large flower, the Cupid figure pulling off the petals, and the young romantic couple engaged in a bit of future-telling by examining the petals. This is a lovely series where each card shows another petal with another written message - in the "loves me, loves me not" style.

Price Estimates: Fantasies vary widely in price depending on how rare or elaborate the card is. In this post, the Dulk cards will be the most reasonably-priced as they are flat cards and plentiful. The bicycle card is the hardest to find; expect to pay $20 and up. The girls-in-flowers are all embossed and vary in price from about $8 - $15. The dogs are popular and harder to find, so are generally priced at $12 - $20. Remember, these prices are for postcards in excellent condition, and they are only estimates.

INTO the FUTURE from 1910

2010-09-12T10:37:00.000-07:00

Since the early 1900s was such a period of innovation and technological marvels, postcard artists naturally envisioned what our high-tech future might be like. Some wonderful fantasy designs incorporate what was already being developed plus flights of fancy to create the images shown in this post. The first postcard, above, is captioned Orange, Mass. in the Future and was apparently quite popular as this card is not difficult to find.

The gasoline engine revolutionized travel and automobiles, buses and trucks, plus fantastical vehicles crowd the streets of the imagined future, while the skies are filled with hot air balloons, dirigibles and tramways.

Bicycles are still popular, and some bicyclists have taken to the air, peddling their way through the sky above the buildings.

Buses and trolleys crowd the street above, with the caption Pittsfield in the Near Future. Looks like just about everyone can afford a motorbike in this utopian age of travel, although a few folks still drive along in fancy automobiles or on regular human-powered bicycles. A second set of trolley cars are suspended above the street, and we wonder if the artist got this idea from the train cars suspended from the enormous Ferris Wheel (the first) at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. This postcard was postmarked from Pittsfield Massachusetts in 1907.

The artist, Syllikuss, envisions fresh-air travel on a large combination airplane and dirigible equipped with a "Saloon Deck" and a "Refreshment Bar"...although it may have been a bit overcrowded, it was obviously a fun ride. This postcard was mailed in the U.K. in 1910.

Maintaining the tradition of Massachusetts as the center of the future United States, here is a harder-to-find postcard showing the Bunker Hill Monument, Boston in the Future. The scale, as in all these images, is completely unrealistic, with a hodge-podge of images large and small all coming together on the background. This jumble is part of the charm of futuristic postcards, where wacky artwork created a light-hearted view of familiar places at the turn of the next century.

The image of Meredith,

New Hampshire in the Future adds a man with outstretched arms and huge feathery wings

flying above the trees, and a long railroad track with a locomotive in the sky. A couple smooches in a hot-air balloon labeled Rendez-Vous, and a double-decker bus lurches along, tipping to one side, as we have already seen it in the future postcard above, from Orange Massachusetts. Since these future images were really clip-art montages, it isn't unusual to find some elements appearing in more than one design.

A French postcard tries to capture what Tourisme en l'an 2000 will be like in the postcard below. This airplane flight looks much more fun and relaxing than actual air travel turned out to be. And they had lots of legroom, plus ample space for suitcases and carry-ons.

We are adding a couple of our favorite fantasies in this category - who knew what might be possible? It seems only logical that automobiles would fly (think Jetsons) and umbrellas might take us airborne, too. Here is a car full of tourists above City Hall, San Francisco and The Whole Family Sends Greetings from the beautiful City by the Bay with even baby along for the ride.

Price Estimates: Prices for fantasy future postcards vary from about $15 - $35 depending on rarity and condition. Of course, not all fantasies focus on the future, and we will soon have a post that highlights other types of fantasies you may also enjoy. Remember, these estimates are for cards in excellent condition, and they are only estimates.

Greetings by TELEPHONE Postcards

2010-07-18T13:56:00.000-07:00

This post focuses on the way telephones entered postcard art - in holiday and greeting postcards of all kinds. Above we see a pretty little girl sending birthday wishes by telephone - on a postcard. While the popularity of the telephone grew, we imagine that 100 years ago, as today, nothing was more pleasurable than finding a real piece of mail delivered by the postman.

Busy Santa loved the invention of the telephone - there are many wonderful fantasy designs of him using the telephone to confirm who was naughty or nice, keeping in touch with his little charges, or to send holiday greetings. We show some examples here on embossed Christmas postcards. The first card shown is published by Whitney.

The last image here is from a series of Santa with technological marvels of the early 1900s - this card is very popular, as is the one of him with a gramophone. Rich, detailed embossing add to the charm and value. Of course, Santa was not the only one who could send Christmas greetings via telephone. Here is a 1920s little girl calling up her friends with warm wishes.

Like automobiles, early telephones were props in photo studios of the time, and you could have your up-to-date portrait taken with telephone in hand, whether you had service at home or not.

European real photo greeting postcards featured children with telephones like this bright-eyed little girl. The "French" phone which had both the speaker and the receiver in the handset came later to the U.S. than it did to Europe, but this girl has an unusual phone of several parts!

We enjoy "floral objects" and especially like the ones showing modern technological developments. Here is a pretty and richly embossed forget-me-not telephone. The telephone could be used to convey a wide range of greetings, and postcards reflected that variety. The little boy below has a straightforward message he's sending by telephone.

Christmas was not the only holiday that found the telephone in the design. Frances Brundage drew several New Year postcards of men and women with telephones, and here is a vivid pair of signed Ellen H. Clapsaddle St. Patrick's day postcards.

This card is an example of a fantasy Easter postcard from one of our favorite series. The cards are beautifully embossed and may be the unsigned artwork of Ellen H. Clapsaddle. In each design, chicks run an egg warehouse office where a telephone is displayed. Is he taking an order? Love the Records book he holds under his wing, and the other office details in these images.

Who needs a telephone most? The newly-arrived, of course! Here's an unusual birth announcement with Baby delivering all the pertinent data via telephone. The copyright date on this colorful flat card is 1908. Below is the signed artwork of Archie Gunn -the pretty flirtatious lady on this flat postcard is Miss Chicago.

The last card in this post shows how convenient the telephone was for advancing a person's romantic life. The lady is holding a photograph, so apparently this is the way some dating was handled 100 years ago - with a photo sent thru the mail, followed up by a telephone call. Questions arise: How did he get her name and address if they have never met? We were aware of "mail-order brides" but this seems different - if you know anything about this early 1900s dating practice, we would love to hear about it!

Price Estimates: Telephone postcards have a wide variety of designs and prices. Holiday cards will cost more, in most cases, than birthday or greeting cards. Real photo postcards will be priced according to the detail and quality of the photograph, plus the identification of the location. In this post, the Santa cards are the most expensive at about $12 - $20 each.

Hello? Hello? TELEPHONES on Postcards

2010-07-18T12:22:00.000-07:00

Thomas J. Watson Sr. who built the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) into the largest manufacturer of electric typewriters and data-processing equipment in the world, said he could see a worldwide market for 5 computers...so even someone deeply involved in technology could have a blind spot about the value of a new development.

We shouldn't be surprised, then, to learn that some folks at the turn of the century weren't sure what benefit those new-fangled telephones might provide. Postcards tracked the progress of the telephone from the start of the 1900s, and this post covers just a few of the telephone's appearances on antique and vintage postcards.

These first four postcards advertise how the telephone could be of help in the home - they are from a set of 12 that describes crises averted and convenience added to the homeowner's life through the addition of a telephone to the household. Of course, we still reach for the phone when we need a taxi, a plumber, or hear someone prowling about the door, as in the last postcard. But a different life at the turn of the century is illuminated by the 3rd postcard - When Servants Fail You - a life unfamiliar to most of us. These are undivided back early postcards. The ones we have that have been mailed are postmarked from 1903 to 1915. On the back, in the top center, each one has the Bell Telephone logo.

The Bell Telephone colorful flat cards are quite dramatic and make a fun collection - the images include a Bell Telephone booth in a busy train station, "Keeps the traveler in touch with home"...a lady at home vignetted against a crowded street, "Into the heart of the shopping district by Bell Telephone"...a lady calling the grocer from her house, "The convenience of marketing"...and more. The last one mentioned here is signed by the artist, MacLellan; we have one other signed card by a different artist, and some of the postcards have no signature. Still, they share a common style and go well together as a group.

As telephones became more common in people's homes, other cards were produced to promote their use. Here is a lady who may wish she had let her fingers do the walking, and an announcement card to send friends letting them know your new telephone number. The date on the announcement card is 191_, so it was intended for use beginning after 1909.

The following postcard from the Colorado Telephone Company encourages the homeowner to add an extension to prevent hurrying down the stairs to answer a call if only one telephone has been installed. The vivid artwork is signed at lower right.

As the telephone made an impact on everyday life, it made an appearance in holiday, real photo and greeting postcards - in another post we will take a closer look at how the telephone entered postcard designs in whimsical, saucy and artistic ways.

Price estimates: We paid between $5 and $12 for the postcards shown in this post - as always, careful shopping will help you save money on your collection. However, technology-related postcards are increasing in value, so if they interest you we encourage you to begin collecting sooner rather than later! Remember, these are only estimates.

Antique BABIES & STORKS Birth Announcement Postcards

2010-07-04T10:48:00.000-07:00

It seems obvious, looking at turn-of-the-century birth announcements, that everyone agreed babies were brought by the stork. Although there are a rare few announcements without the stork, the great majority include a big white bird with a long beak and long legs. The theme may be witty, amusing or simply happy, but there's almost always a delivery-bird in the celebratory design. In this post, we look at a variety of birth announcements, embossed and flat, from 1901-1918.

We begin with a popular design from Paul Finkenrath Berlin (PFB) with charming artwork by Marie Flatscher. If you like this card, you may want to see more of artist Flatscher's work in another post where we focused exclusively on her designs. Her snow white storks are fluffy and friendly - you can almost see a smile on their faces - and her babies are wonderfully individual, each one with its own personality. Rich embossing and strong colors add to the desirability of this series. Below is another PFB design, also embossed, showing a more exotic image of a stork wearing a dark red fez and a baby in a bib riding the stork, little riding crop in hand.

Other cards in this series also show the stork wearing a ruffled bonnet and a Russian-style scarf or babushka, giving rise to the question of whether the stork is male, female, or either one depending on the artist's fancy.

Below are three different series, each with an Asian-influenced style. The one with the lady waving good-bye to the stork is the last in a series that shows the stork searching for a baby in a marsh, finding the right baby, taking him to his parents, etc. with each card marking a step in the journey. There are 6 cards, each with a deep red sun in a dramatic sky. These flat cards date from the early undivided back era, and were published by Adolph Selige in St. Louis, Missouri.

The card on the right has elements that could have come right off a Japanese kimono - round swirly clouds that look embroidered, flat areas of strong color and variations in size that make the stork very large and the baby thin and small, balancing in a basket.
The entire design gives us a flavor of cool Asian elegance with golden edges around each color on this dramatic flat card. It is marked German-American Novelty Art Series No. 1088 with a divided back.

Here is an elegant series with the captions in German, where each card has a limited color palette in the blue-green range, with highlights of black, red and white. It, too, shows Asian influence in the design, which is spare and dramatic. These early undivided back birth announcements have light embossing, and a signature at the bottom that is either Asian or initials in a design that's made to look Asian. Again, the series depicts the stops the stork makes when preparing to deliver a baby, including one titled Rast, where the baby is in a big twiggy nest atop a tiled roof, guarded by the standing stork, as though all babies had to go through the Netherlands on the way to their final destination.

Now for a very different postcard, signed with the artist's entwined initials at lower left. It's a good example of a sub-type of birth announcement where the design left a special space for the new parents to enter the baby's vital statistics. This one is especially vibrant with strong colors and the Man in the Moon, always a favored turn-of-the-century motif, included in the image. Furthering the theory that babies develop in marshland, we have a wonderful design below of a frog nursing babies to delivery-standards, and offering them to the stork.

We cannot imagine the circumstances in which this card, where the stork says the parents are not quite ready yet, would be sent...perhaps when a couple first showed pregnancy but the delivery date was some months in the future or maybe this is a card from eager-to-be-grandparents to the young couple as a hint that they should start building their family. All the same, it's an unusual design where the stork is joined by another helper...in this case, the baby-bottle-wielding frog.

This post concludes with some examples of birth announcements without a stork in the design.This business-like Mammy figure holds up a baby in a little blanket, hanging from a hook-scale to tell how much the baby weighs. It will appeal to collectors who like birth announcements and also collectors of Black Americana. It's a flat card, with an early undivided back. No publisher is given front or back; it's harder to find than many birth announcements. The last postcard in this post shows Baby arriving in a completely modern way - by a little airship marked Baby Land Air-Line that combines a dirigible with a little red motorized seat below equipped with a baby bottle. Design copyrighted 1906 by Charles Rose, a divided back flat postcard signed by the artist, Dwig.

Price Estimates: Birth announcements are fun to collect and are not too expensive - a wide variety may be had for $5 or $6 each. Those that offer something special - for instance, publishing by the popular and top-quality PFB - may cost twice or even three times as much. Estimates are for cards in excellent condition, and are only estimates.

Antique & Art Deco TRAVEL Postcards

2010-06-12T10:37:00.000-07:00

When travel was by train or ship - not by airplane - advertising postcards for travel excursions reached an artistic height with intense colors and fantastic images. This post shares some circa 1910 travel poster-style postcards plus several art deco travel designs from the 1920s/1930s. Travel poster-style postcards make a satisfying collection and an eye-catching display if you decide to frame and show some of your acquisitions.

We begin with a French design for railway journeys to Bretagne. Second is a stylish design for a vacation in Italy near the leaning tower at Pisa. This postcard advertises a hotel for the traveler - with an elevator, bathrooms, a garage for visitors coming by automobile, and a restaurant.

An especially fine artist-signed art deco postcard follows, advertising both railways and ships - Ch. de Fer & Paquebots - and showing well-dressed passengers boarding the ship. In the background is a porter perched on top of a huge pile of luggage bound for a hotel - these folks didn't take weekend get-aways but packed for luxurious journeys lasting weeks or months.

This energetic vision of a huge cruise ship about to depart New York City shows the excitement of a long cruise, where just the send-off was an event. Superb artwork and lots of vivid color light up this card. All the postcards in this post are flat without embossing.

Below is a beautiful postcard showing a soft Spring view of an excursion by train to a chateau in Normandy, with light reflections on the water and pale pink cherry blossoms.

There are some magnificent graphic art deco designs that offer a more modern flavor - these, too, would be superb framed and displayed. If you have traveled to places you especially liked, or plan to travel to some new destinations, you may be able to find travel poster-style postcards to celebrate your own vacation favorites.

We show two from Italy, one from Mexico. The vivid colors, elegant designs and classic art deco lettering all add to the charm of these vintage travel advertising postcards.

Price Estimates: Travel postcards vary from seller to seller in price; some can be acquired as low as $10, while others may be listed at $15-$30 each. You can find some bargains if you are willing to be patient and buy travel postcards in a group or "lot" from sellers who don't want to bother listing them individually. As always, condition counts. These prices are for postcards in excellent condition, and they are only estimates.

SWASTIKA Good Luck Antique Postcards

2010-06-12T09:47:00.000-07:00

The swastika was a good luck symbol long before the Nazis adopted it for use as a symbol of fascism. Victorian postcards often include swastikas as messages of good luck. In this post, we take a look at some examples of postcard Good Luck Swastikas. All the postcards in this post date from about 1908-1918.

The poetry on the above postcard introduces us to the "ancient cross" as a symbol of "fortune's reign" and sends the recipient blessings. This postcard has a golden swastika on top of a four-leaf clover, another long-established symbol of good luck that we often see on antique postcards.

This pretty lady is surrounded by a border of golden swastikas on a birthday postcard with fancy lettering and - again - green four-leaf clovers. The artwork is signed HBG for the artist H.B. Griggs.

A New Year's card combines the swastika with holly berries and leaves, plus a snowy country scene to create a holiday image - Sent in all Sincerity - where the swastika stands for good luck without the greeting referring to the symbolism. On the right are three birthday greetings from a pretty floral set, flowers bursting out of envelopes, enhanced with a golden border that has a swastika in each corner. Rich embossing on this set, plus vivid colors, make the cards eye-catching. Below is an enlargement of one of the cards in this bright birthday set.

Victorian greeting postcards that feature clasped hands indicate affection, as shown here with his-and-hers hands connected above golden textured hearts with forget-me-not borders. Red swastikas at the top corners add another bright visual touch. This card has rich embossing. Below we have another greeting postcard with a large swastika - from a set that has a candy-colored border, golden edge and scrolls on big bouquets of flowers. This card also benefits from strong embossing.

We close with a special swastika postcard where the image is surrounded by other positive symbols - a diamond inside a horseshoe at the top, hearts pierced together in Love, the earth representing Life, and a sunrise for Light. This special card gives us a good look at how the swastika was used by the Victorian postcard designers to send good wishes across the miles.

Price estimates: The pretty floral birthday cards must have been very popular because there are a lot of them available, so they are not expensive. Other swastika cards vary from a few dollars to $10 or $12 depending on rarity. The last card shown in this post is more difficult to find and can cost accordingly. These prices are only estimates and they are for postcards in excellent condition.

Greetings from YOUR TOWN U.S.A.

2010-05-10T12:55:00.000-07:00

This post is all about generic postcards - scenes that were created to typify any area of the country, that a postcard seller could have printed with the name of his town or state to create an inexpensive 'local' postcard. The pretty view at the top of the post is one of a series of country views shown inside oval frames of pale pink. Below we see more of the generic cards before they were printed - colorful scenes from Anywhere, U.S.A.

This beautiful lakeside scene is by Curt Teich, so even this well-known publisher was offering generic postcards to those who didn't want to pay for - or couldn't figure out how to - take a quality picture of their local scene to decorate a postcard. Of course, there was no description on the back of the card, because the scene is of no specific place in the country.

Here is a pastoral scene as sent to a postcard seller to demonstrate what the card would look like once personalized...and below is one of a similar finished product.

The postcards shown so far are all linen-era (1930-1945) but the creation of postcards that could be personalized cheaply continued into the more contemporary chrome period (1939-present). Below is an example of another water scene, very colorful, that could be printed with any resort town name as long as there was a lake nearby.

Another chrome postcard ready for the name of Your Area is shown below, of a hunter being watched carefully by a gaggle of geese - is this meant to be humorous? We're not sure!

In case you were wondering if anyone would actually buy these tacky cards, here's a generic linen boat-on-a-lake scene that was purchased and sent in 1948 , postmarked Millersburg, Ohio.

There are select generic cards that are quite collectible - linen multi-views of bathing beauties and beach scenes are often printed with beach resort names and, even though the same scenes appear on a number of locations, folks from those resorts like to put the postcards in their collections. And there are a few generics that are attractive enough that they have become collectible even without a location added. Below is one of our favorites.

Price Estimates: We can't give a price estimate on the generic scenes of countryside, lakes or cattle, because when we find them we throw them away. However, the multi-view linen beach scenes go for $5 - $10 each, depending on the number of enthusiastic bidders from the location printed on the card. Lovely ladies like the one above can usually be found for a few dollars. These price estimates are for postcards in excellent condition, and they are only estimates.

PUZZLING POSTCARDS

2010-04-30T09:53:00.000-07:00

This post illustrates some of the many fun puzzle postcards produced between 1900 and the 1940s - above we have a reverse written message which becomes readable when held to a mirror. The artist Dwig made many delightful designs using this trick, with pretty ladies declaring their romantic feelings in reverse writing. The example above includes a pun - turn-of-the-century postcard designers loved to use puns!

Above are two early flat rebus postcards where pictures are used instead of words. In the top card there's an example of negating part of a word to make the puzzle work, where the waiter is shown followed by ER being crossed out to make WAIT. Children's puzzle books still make good use of the rebus, and further along we will see some rebus designs that capture colorful children's dreams of Christmas.

To the left are two beautifully illustrated colorful rebus puzzles of old sayings... ALL (awl) is not GOLD that glitters...and A POT goes often to the WELL but is BROKEN at last.

An even more elaborately designed series is shown at the right, with pretty embossed floral borders...these, too, illustrate popular sayings. A BIRD in the HAND is worth TWO BIRDS in the BUSH....and TIME and tide wait for no MAN. Notice how the initial letter A in both sets is made out of saplings, adding further artistic flair - all the lettering is imaginatively done.

A later linen-era card uses a scrambled-letters style to puzzle the recipient - the message is worth figuing out, because it's an affectionate one the recipient will enjoy.

Another linen-era puzzle postcard teams bathing beauties with a maze - note the caption, "Having an A-MAZE-ing Good Time...Try to get to "ME" soon!

Here is a Victorian-era puzzle postcard with Teacher trying to impart some wisdom to her classroom students...she has created a puzzle on the blackboard, requiring the children to put the vowels back in the words. This was used as an advertisement for a school supply company. We show it extra-large in case you want to solve the puzzle yourself.

Above is a charming Christmas rebus puzzle postcard from Whitney, published in the 1920s, perfect for sending to children. We show another below - these are the colorful rebus designs we mentioned at the start of this post. Of course, there are other kinds of puzzles available on old postcards, too - some use thin, elongated letters to make mystery answers to riddles - the viewer has to hold the postcard up to the eye at a slant to read the answers...today we have just shown a few to get you started, if you would like to begin adding puzzles to your collection.

Price Estimates: Puzzle cards like those shown here are generally priced between $3 - $6 each, with the Whitney holiday rebus cards going as high as $10 because they have cross-over interest. If you are introducing postcard collecting to a youngster, you may wish to get him or her a puzzle or rebus card to add to their collection! These prices are for postcards in EXCELLENT condition, and they are only estimates.

FELINE Fantasies - CAT and KITTEN Postcards

2010-04-25T15:46:00.000-07:00

This post shows some cat fantasy postcards - where our favorite felines are featured in some unusual settings as well as the expected places. Above, a Mama cat holds her new kitten wrapped in a pink blanket, one of the fantastic red-background fantasies we will include here.

Of course, there are places where cats naturally appear on antique postcards, like all the black cats that grace Halloween designs. We show a delightful image of a jack-o'-lantern headed girl, wearing an autumn leaf outfit, smiling happily. She is accompanied by the black cat we associate with Halloween designs, this time grinning in fun like his mistress. Sometimes the Halloween cats are scary, sometimes serene, and on art deco cards they can be sleek and symbolic, with un-cat-like forms. They may take center place, or parade around the edges forming a border.

We also find cats and kittens adding feline charm to all sorts of holidays and greetings, and cat collectors can expand their hunt to include some elegant designs as well as cute ones. Here is a cat making himself comfortable on the table among the roses. PFB made a gorgeous embossed series of little girls holding their cats - very elegant and realistic with beautiful artwork and strong colors. Each one is different and the series is popular. A detail of one is shown to the left, of a little girl holding her cat in her lap.

In the fantasy realm, one of the most popular and best-known series places dressed cats in busy environments. Published by Mainzer, these are vintage flat cards with a matte finish, and each one has a frantic (often disastrous) moment presented in a colorful design. These are some of the first postcards I gave my granddaughter to introduce her to collecting, and they immediatly caught the fancy of a 6-year old. She enjoyed searching the images for semi-hidden nuttiness, and adults love the fantastic artwork as well as the humor. Here are two from the extensive series:

Dressed cats also illustrate our red series - they're engaged in a variety of fantasy activities. The red backgrounds make the images especially bright. These postcards are sometimes embossed and sometimes flat...to the right is a fruitstand with cat customers, and below a pair of fellow felines share a chat over cigars.

If you have other interests, and are already collecting Christmas postcards or, for instance, camera postcards, you can simply add fantasy cat images to your existing collection. Above, an artist-signed image of a cat with an old-fashioned camera on a tripod and below we see a sweet pair of cats on a candy cane striped Merry Christmas image. These bright-eyed cats are just doing what comes naturally, peeking out at us with inscrutable expressions and providing a very decorative accent to this Christmas design. Back in the fantasy realm, a cat can take on continental flair. Here is a black cat seated at an outdoor cafe, enjoying an aperitif, watching the world go by and thinking some deep thoughts. Ah, to be in Paris now that Spring is here!

Some famous artists created cat-themed postcards. Louis Wain (whose disintegrating images of cats are sometimes used in psychology text books to show how mental illness progresses) cat postcards can cost hundreds of dollars. Thiele and Boulanger made a number of memorable cat designs which are far more affordable.

Price Estimates: Cat postcards vary widely - you could choose a sub-set to collect like cat holiday designs, cat fantasy designs, real photo cats or another specialty. Different groups will be priced differently, depending on the availability and artwork and, of course, condition. The Mainzer cards are a lot of fun and not too expensive, although their price is rising. They are now commonly available for $8 - $15 each. If you bid on a group (a lot) of Mainzer cats, you may get them as low as $3 or $4 dollars each. Some sellers price them higher, but there are an enormous number available and if you wait, you will get the ones you want at a reasonable price. The PFB cards of girls with cats will cost about $15-$20 each. The antique red cards appear as low as a few dollars and as high as $25 depending on where and when you find them. Fantasy dressed cat designs were popular in Europe as well as in the U.S. and we have found some great designs with French or German captions for $5 - $10 each at eBay auction. If you purchase a cat design that has an overlapping collectible interest (cameras, motorcycles, airplanes, for instance) the price may be higher, since two groups are interested in acquiring the card. Expect to pay up to $35 or more for a top quality cross-over cat card. Remember, these prices are for postcards in Excellent condition, and they are only estimates.

Marie Flatscher's Beautiful Children on Postcards

2010-03-27T15:06:00.000-07:00

Marie Flatscher is one of my favorite artists - her work is found on PFB published postcards and on Meissner Buch published postcards, plus on some cards where the publisher is not given. She has a witty, humorous way of portraying children both in natural child settings, and doing adult things as in her children-driving-thru-the-countryside designs like the one above. Her colors are bright and her draftmanship sure and confident. Once in a while sellers list cards with awkward children on them as Marie Flatscher designs, but once you have developed an eye for Flatscher's work, you won't be misled. A small number of her designs are signed with her initials M.F., but most of our collection consists of unsigned images.

Some tell-tale signs of a Marie Flatscher design include the old-fashioned baby's bottle, and some soggy socks drooping around the toddlers' ankles. Along with the socks, shoes are often missing or simply slippers. Her children's faces are unmistakable, though, with their sweet winning smiles and bright eyes. Here's an Easter design that shows the Flatscher footwear and the wonderful facial expression. A great big chick joins in the Easter celebration and the background is pastel flowers - pale pink/violet. Most of Flatscher's designs are embossed and all the ones in this post fall into that category. Some of the Meissner Buch published designs are flat - and some of them are quite elegant fantasy images with children in flowering trees, in starry skies and other magical settings. The PFB designs are easier to find in the U.S. and the M&B designs seem more numerous in Europe.

Below is another countryside design where the children are shown in motorized freedom - there's a design where they have chased a goose off the road while they zoom along in their auto, for instance. Here they are having a picnic, with wine for big brother (he isn't THAT big!) and a milk bottle for baby sister. Flatscher often shows her children with dogs or cats, and she is just as masterful at portraying pets.

PFB published a childhood set of Marie Flatscher designs that shows children at home playing with siblings and animals, surrounded by toys. Above is one of the childhood designs where baby and brother are on a red rocking horse. The poetry can be touching or surprising, as each extolls the joys of childhood...sometimes by comparing the carefree younger years to the stresses and woes of adulthood. The poem on this card says, With whip and spur they merrily course, They've ridden far today. What though their steed's a wooden horse, What hunter's life's so gay!

Here is another childhood design, this time with baby and big sister, an old-fashioned jester doll at the foot of the red cradle. This time the poetry reads: Sunny little faces always gay, Little airs and graces all the day. How their little dimples charm away our care, Make our mighty troubles vanish into air.

There is a wide variety of Marie Flatscher series in holiday designs. Several of the finest celebrate Christmas and New Year's - including a Christmas set of children in holly trees, blowing horns and sometimes drinking baby bottles of milk. Here is an example of a Christmas series of children sledding, and an example from a wonderful New Year set where the main image is of a giant clock, with Flatscher's adorable children on top of or in front of the midnight timepiece. The babies shown here share a hug, each holding a celebratory milk bottle, with the signature missing shoes and droopy socks.

Here we see a cat accompanying a little girl who brings flowers as a Birthday greeting. Again, the card is embossed and the little girl has her own individual character - Flatscher didn't draw the same child again and again (unless it was within the same series where the same children appeared in different settings) but gave each child a personality. This little girl is a bit shy, as you can see. At least she remembered both her pink shoes! On the right is an unusual card with metallic highlights in the girl's clothing - copper and green added to a lively design of a child feeding her two little puppies. The poetry encourages the dogs to share.

Price Estimates: This post has focused on embossed Marie Flatscher designs commonly available in the U.S. Prices for these cards have risen sharply in the past five years, and they now command between $10 and $18 with some higher. The metallics postcard is more unusual and will cost more. Most of the cards shown here were published by PFB, with some having no publisher designated. The European Flatscher designs, mostly published by Meissner & Buch, are harder to find in the U.S. They have recently ended between $14 - $60 at auction on eBay, most often listed by European sellers. Because Flatscher has only come to prominence in the past few years, you may still be able to find good buys on Flatscher cards at postcard shows by looking at the dealer's stock of PFB or CHILDREN postcards. These prices are for postcards in EXCELLENT condition and they are only estimates of current prices.