Vintage Postcards: Postcard Blog » black Americana

An Outsider Art Black Americana Postcard

VintagePostcards — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 18:06:25 +0000

For collectors of black Americana vintage postcards, it doesn’t get much better than this! Collectibles which depict every-day life in the black community are scarce, and this old black history postcard shows the proud owner of a 1952 Pontiac, which he has decorated in a folk art, or outsider art, manner. This great image was made in 1973 at a Gulf gas station in Houston, TX and is in near-mint condition. It has cross-appeal to the roadside America, or roadside Americana, collector and is also an interesting petroliana collectible.

Read another post about roadside America collectibles, or browse the selection of black Americana or gas station postcards at our website.

A Sad Story of Stolen Postcards

VintagePostcards — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 22:50:09 +0000

We were asked this week to appraise an interesting lot of old postcards. They had been stolen from an insurance company’s client, and then discarded by the thief along a busy road in rainy conditions. Sadly, all of the postcards were ruined and sustained the same type of damage: gritty soiling, heavy surface pockmarking and, in some instances, paper weakness and separation. This was due to the combination of having been exposed to the elements and additionally run over by automobiles. While many of the antique postcards were unremarkable, there were two notable exceptions. The postcard seen above is a highly collectible Samuel Schmucker Halloween postcard, showing 13 white-robed children carrying 13 pumpkins and offering “Halloween Greetings.”

The other interesting vintage postcard was published by noted publisher Raphael Tuck & Sons of London, England. The antique postcard, from his “Crocodile Bait” series, depicts “Seaside Coons” consisting of eight stereotyped black children at the beach. The circumstances of the appraisal were unusual, and serve as a reminder to get your postcards appraised and keep them secured. Sadly, it only takes a moment for them to be rendered worthless.

Learn about the Civil Rights movement as seen in vintage postcards, or see more black Americana and Halloween postcards.

The Civil Rights Movement in Vintage Postcards

VintagePostcards — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 19:22:25 +0000

The great graphics in this unused c. 1930s to 1940s vintage postcard of the Art Deco-style Greyhound bus station in Jackson, Mississippi don’t give a hint of the building’s importance to the Civil Rights movement. Bus travel was often one of the few reliable means of travel for black Americans prior to the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. Travel by car through Southern states, in particular, could be dangerous, and the number of motels accepting black travelers was, frankly, unpredictable. Often, weary travelers rode the bus: it was economical, and they could sleep on the bus. In fact, this Jackson, MS bus stop was nicknamed the “Jackson Hilton.”

This Greyhound bus depot also played a role in black history: it was the destination of the second Freedom Riders’ bus on 24 May 1961. After their arrival, hundreds of civil rights demonstrators were detained in animal pens at the State Fairgrounds. The post card has ““cross-over” appeal to collectors of black Americana, roadside Americana and Hinds County material.

The bus station was also noteworthy for its streamlined Art Deco appearance. The blue glass on it was Vitrolite, a type of structural glass often used decoratively on the façades of Art Deco and Art Moderne buildings for its bold impression. It was last manufactured in 1947. Unlike terra cotta, which had been used experimentally and primarily for ornamentation in earlier 20th c. architecture, Vitrolite didn’t warp or swell and wasn’t prone to fading or staining. Impervious to moisture and easily cleaned with a damp cloth, it made streetside maintenance easy. In other words, it was perfect for a building which received heavy traffic, like the bus station. Vitrolite could also be brilliantly colored, as seen here.

You can see more antique postcards and black Americana on our website.

Learn about collectible black Americana trade cards, which offer insights into American social history.

Black Americana Trade Cards: An Insight Into Social History

VintagePostcards — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 01:46:14 +0000

Trade cards have become an increasingly desirable collectible due in large part to their fanciful graphics, which often appeal to postcard collectors. Here are two great c. 1880s examples of black Americana advertising on trade cards. While these examples are almost the same size as vintage postcards, some trade cards are much smaller.

Trade cards are often politically incorrect by today’s standards but, as with these black Americana trade cards, they are also desirable from a social history standpoint, mirroring as they do contemporary attitudes towards many issues: in this case, minorities. In the first image, we see a barefoot “pickaninny,” swinging and pulling with all his might on a clean white shirt imprinted with the saying: “This shirt was washed with White Swan Soap. Does not rot the clothes.” In the background, an agitated black female, also barefoot, stands next to a log cabin (implying poverty), waving her arms in the air. One can almost hear her yelling at the boy to let go of the shirt this instant! White Swan Soap was made by the Flower City Soap Co. of Rochester, New York.

Clark’s Thread also published many trade cards. In this spool cotton image, the black boy is again barefoot and wearing patched clothes. He has a sort of stereotypical “bug-eyed” look sometimes seen in early black caricatures. In this advertisement, the boy boasts that Clark’s Thread is so strong that he can use it as a fishing line, probably because he was impoverished but resourceful. His English is broken in a stereotyped way, with the caption reading: “I Reckon Dis Yere’s Strong ’Nuff, Suah.”

Visit VintagePostcards.org for a nice selection of graphically striking trade cards and related ephemera. Or, read about the search for a swan postcard for a dying man.