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An Early Cardston, Alberta Blood Indian Postcard

VintagePostcards — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 00:55:28 +0000

We’re delighted that this scarce 1905 private postcard is going home to Alberta, Canada. Nicely detailed and highly collectible, it shows Blood Indian Wolfchild and his wife and daughter — all dressed in First Nation, traditional clothing — posing outside their log cabin at Cardston, AB.

Sent from St. Mary’s Ranch at Cardston, sender Arthur Berry offered “Kind regards and best wishes for Xmas & the ‘New Year’ ” to a Miss Reeve, who lived at “The Stream” in Chiddingley, Sussex, England.

Read about artist-signed holiday postcards, or see more native American postcards at our website. Or, curl up and browse the world’s largest postcard bookstore.

Happy New Year from Two Vintage Postcard Artists

VintagePostcards — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 05:40:22 +0000

Happy New Year from VintagePostcards.org! Each year at this time, the world is full of hope and promise, that things can and will be better in the New Year. And that’s our wish for you — that your New Year is the best and brightest you’ve ever had.

In the spirit of things, here’s a scarce 1904 artist-signed Gertrud Caspari postcard celebrating the New Year’s holiday. Four children stroll past a castle while bearing a heart, food, money and flowers. Caspari was the most important childrens’s book illustrator of the time in Germany, and was known for her use of the bright, elementary colors seen in this graphically sophisticated composition. It bears a 1903 Dresden postmark and is in excellent condition.

Basically, the earlier the date of the New Year’s postcard, the more valuable it is. Dates after about 1906 are relatively common. You can learn more about Caspari on our reference page about postcard artists.

A graphically striking 1910 New Year’s postcard, artist-signed by H. B. Griggs, shows a toddler with a quill pen writing in a book about the noble aspirations and resolutions that we all have this time of year. Nicely rendered, this postcard was published by Lubrie & Elkins, Series No. 2266, and is in excellent condition.

Read another post about winter holidays, see more holiday postcards, or curl up and browse the world’s largest postcard bookstore.

Welcome Winter, with Children Sledding

VintagePostcards — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 04:11:12 +0000

Although winter doesn’t officially start until December 22, it’s been abnormally chilly here, with snow flurries and temperatures down to about 15 degrees F. As we sipped hot chocolate, we were reminded of the glee we felt when young and faced with new-fallen snow. A blank canvas upon which to busily build forts, create snowmen, and go sledding. The children in this artist-signed H. B. Griggs postcard remind us of those times.

This Griggs postcard has outstanding graphics and a striking composition. It dates to 1907-1915. Colorful, nicely embossed and gilded, it was from Griggs’ Christmas Series No. 2264 for the Leubrie & Elkus postcard publishing company. Griggs postcards are sometimes signed with the initials H. B. G. Herbert Griggs designed at least 350 holiday postcards.

See another fanciful Christmas postcard, or see more holiday postcards at our website. Or, curl up and browse the world’s largest postcard bookstore.

Happy Thanksgiving from Lady Liberty

VintagePostcards — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 03:40:52 +0000

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Here’s a noteworthy 1908 Thanksgiving greetings postcard of a patriotic Lady Liberty, clad in a flag costume and perhaps shepherding two turkeys to their ultimate fate! Gilded, embossed and in excellent condition, this one was a keeper, and flew off the shelves.

Read about a fanciful Halloween postcard, or see more holiday postcards at our website. Browse the world’s largest postcard bookstore.

Pennsylvania Photography Studios Documented with Real-Photo Postcards

VintagePostcards — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:24:16 +0000

Postcards from named photography studios are somewhat uncommon, and we’ve got a trio of real-photo postcards to show you which were taken in early 20th century Pennsylvania photography studios. A c. 1904 to 1920s Cyko real-photo postcard depicting four young gentlemen was taken by a photographer named Lee whose studio was in Danville, Pennsylvania. A penciled notation on the reverse indicates that H. Lee Goyne was at left rear; the name “Sobey” is also written on the reverse. Such little gems are sometimes overlooked, but do document local businesses: in this case a Montour County, PA photography studio.

An unused Azo Square c. 1924 real-photo postcard of two ladies posing in an early car prop was taken in Pittsburgh, PA by the Colonial Studio, which was at 137 Sixth St.

Two sweet young York County girls in their finest, one with a bow as big as her head, pose for the camera in this charming c. 1904-1918 unused Azo Tri 1 real-photo postcard. The toddler in the chair has an almost porcelain doll appearance. The photograph was taken at the Penn Park Studio, which was at 25-29 W. College Ave. in York, PA, “near the York High School,” as the postcard describes it. All three of these postcards document Pennsylvania photographic history, in their own charming way.

Read more about determining locations of real-photo postcards. See some photography or real-photo postcards at our website. We also offer the world’s largest selection of postcard books.

Uncle Sam Wishes You a Patriotic Merry Christmas

VintagePostcards — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 02:16:06 +0000

There’s finally a chill in the air and Christmas is closer than we think. (We know, you didn’t want to hear that!) As an early Christmas present, we thought we’d share this unusual Christmas postcard. With striking graphics, this out-of-the-ordinary 1910 postcard shows a patriotic Uncle Sam wishing us a Merry Christmas holiday. It was published by Arthur Horwitz, and is in very good condition. We’ll be showcasing more holiday postcards over the coming weeks.

See some ice skating postcards, or view more Christmas postcards at our website. We also offer the world’s largest selection of postcard books.

Determining Locations of Real-Photo Postcards: Wadesville, VA

VintagePostcards — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 19:37:40 +0000

Sometimes, when location information isn’t inscribed into the negative of a real-photo postcard, the location can still be determined — or at least narrowed down — with information found on the back of the postcard. In this instance, there’s a penciled notation reading “Wadesville, Virginia” on the back of the unused c. 1904-1918 Azo Tri 1 real-photo postcard showing Opequon Creek bridge construction.

However, there’s also an Opequon Creek bridge in nearby Berkeley County, West Virginia. Based on our online research, we believe this postcard shows the Opequon bridge in Clarke County, Virginia. If you think this is actually the West Virginia bridge over Opequon Creek, let us know. While research into “mystery postcards” is fun, sometimes, only local collectors have the knowledge base required to recognize a local landmark which has inevitably changed over time. Postmarks are also helpful, especially if a postcard contains text referencing specific locations.

Read more about documenting postcards with Internet research, or see many more real-photo postcards at our website. We also offer the world’s largest selection of postcard books.

A Fanciful Halloween Postcard

VintagePostcards — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 02:02:04 +0000

Halloween is our favorite holiday — everyone gets to be a child again. Halloween postcards are among the most popular of all collectible postcards, in part because of their fanciful nature. This c. 1907-1915 example has splendid graphics, depicting a young boy holding a jack o’lantern, as its smoke produces a witch on a broom with long, flowing brown hair. An owl sits to the right. Profusely gilded and embossed and with deep, rich colors, this is a fine example of a Halloween fantasy postcard. Happy Halloween!

Read more about Halloween postcards, or see more Halloween postcards at our website. We also offer the world’s largest selection of postcard books.

French Pug Dog Postcard

VintagePostcards — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 21:12:23 +0000

In honor of the 132nd Westminster Dog Show, which winds up tonight at Madison Square Gardens in New York City, here’s a vintage postcard of a French pug. He looks a little worried, for some reason. The antique postcard was artist signed by Kenyon in 1907.

See our dog postcards, or learn more about artist-signed postcards in our postcard bookstore.

Four interesting new dog breeds which were recently recognized by the American Kennel Club (AKC) are competing in the Westminster Kennel Club’s dog show. See pictures of the dog breeds and learn more about them.

Read another entry about artist-signed postcards.

Winter Sports – Antique Ice Skating Postcards

VintagePostcards — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 16:13:16 +0000

It’s cold outside but, overall, this has been a mild winter so far. Global warming? Who knows. Friends in Idaho and Canada report harsher-than-normal winters. Here are some winter sports postcards to view, if you’re indoors trying to keep warm.

This charming unused and undivided-back 1901-1907 postcard shows a boy wrapped up against wintry weather and ready to skate. Artist signed by American postcard artist C. W. Simpson, it’s from his “American Child Studies.” series. The boy’s red hat and scarf provide a nice counterpoint to the wintry tones of the ice and nearby birch trees. Simpson specialized in football, skiing and other sports postcards. We’ve also seen one from his “American Child” series showing a hockey game in progress. Learn more about Simpson in Mashburn’s The Artist-Signed Postcard Price Guide, available through our postcard bookstore.

This graphically striking 1922 postcard, artist-signed by Fidus (Hugo Hoppener) of Germany, depicts a female ice skater in a short tunic and with a fur muff in one hand! It conveys a great sense of action, and was published by Rommler & Jonas of Munich. See the ice skating postcard collectibles at our website.

Learn more about winter sports postcards.