UNSOLVED MYSTERIES OF POSTCARD COLLECTING

This article identifies and investigates many mysteries (also referred to as puzzles, enigmas, issues, or secrets) that confront advanced postcard collectors. We also provide Hints & Resources to assist you in your search and a few solutions as Case Studies that have been successful.

MYSTERY 1

THE POSTCARD DOES NOT SHOW A PUBLISHER’S NAME. How can I find out the publisher’s name?

FACTS TO KNOW: According to Petrulis, “Postcards may have up to four different names printed on them or sometimes none at all. They are most often found on the card’s back, though they may appear on a front, tab, or even across the image. In place of a name, a logo is often substituted.”

HINTS & RESOURCES: Sometimes, the only distinguishing characteristic is the style of the printed lettering on the back side of the postcard. Several researchers have reported on the dimensions, fonts, and colors found on Postcard Backs from different publishers. See the Advertising Catalog by Megson or the Alaska catalog checklist by Grainger for details. This is a long and tedious task which may or may not produce results. Most postcards that do not identify the publisher are reported by catalogers as “anonymous publisher.”

CASE STUDY: A set of 6 postcards were printed with the inscription Souvenir of Greater New York on 5 of them and the inscription Souvenir of Washington on 1 of the group. Instead of the name of the publisher, numbers from 100 through 105 were printed on the front in the lower left. The specific publisher was a mystery.

A careful review of other cards issued during the period referred to (namely, the formation of Greater New York) revealed a completely different new set of cards with the exact brown titled backs from a named publisher. Upon closer inspection, it was also noted that the placement of the numbers on the mystery set were in the same front lower left location as the publisher’s name on the new set. These two similarities were enough to conclude that the two sets were published by the same publisher.

MYSTERY 2

THE ARTIST DRAWN POSTCARD DOES NOT SHOW THE ARTIST’S NAME. How can I find out the name of the artist?

FACTS TO KNOW: According to Petrulis, “An Artist Signed Postcard is a reproduction of an illustration distinctly displaying the artist’s name. The postcard itself is not actually signed; the original art work is signed and the signature is reproduced along with the picture. The signature allows collectors to identify and seek out cards drawn by specific artists. These cards were not considered art reproductions for the artwork printed on them were specifically designed to be used on postcards. Some stretch the definition by considering any postcard containing an illustration made for postcard use to be artist signed whether an actual signature is on the card or not. Many artists designed entire series of cards, some numbering into the thousands but they may not have signed them all. While some artists worked independently, others stuck to one publisher.”

Solving this mystery is a complicated matter with many twists and turns. The key lies in assembling the information that the postcard does tell you, such as the publisher, the distributor, the logo (if there is one), the pen name used, or even the date of mailing (which will tell you that the artist lived and created the image before that date).

HINTS: There are several catalogs that can help to solve the mystery. First is the book, Guide To Artist’s Signatures and Monograms on Postcards written by Nouhad A. Saleh and published by Minerva Press Inc. This books contains reproductions of the actual signatures, initials found on cards, and other info about artist signed cards. It is a bit difficult to use. But nevertheless, an invaluable resource. Another great help are the J. L. Mashburn catalogs, The Postcard Guide and his Artist Signed Postcard Catalog published by Colonial House Press. Another valuable out-of-print resource is the Catalogue of Picture Postcard Artists by Capita Business Services Ltd of Sommerset, Great Britain.

MYSTERY 3

THE REAL PHOTO POSTCARD DOES NOT SPECIFY THE LOCATION, NAME(S) OF PEOPLE, OR THE DATE OF THE CARD. How can I find some or all of this information?

FACTS TO KNOW: There are many Real Photo Postcards that have little or no identifying information. Dealers tend to call these cards “generics” or in the case of portraits, “ancestor postcards”.

HINTS: Although there are no major catalogs for real Photo Postcards, there are now several well researched books about Real Photo postcards published by well known photographers and their studios.

Some of these are: Real Photo Postcard Guide: The People's Photography by  Robert Bogdan & ToddWesloh;                                 Exposing the Wilderness: Early Twentieth-Century Adirondack Postcard Photographers and Adirondack Vernacular: The PhotographyofHarryM.BeachbyRobertBogdan;                                                                        Arizona Real Photo Postcards: A History & Portfolio by Jeremy Rowe.

Probably the best tool available to all of us is a high power magnifier. Use it to examine your mystery card(s) for names of buildings, Bank names with city or state designations, telltale clothing and car model vintage era to help date the period, car license plates for dating and State location. Remember that partial identification of information is always better than no information.

CASE STUDY: According to Vintage Postcards, “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 postcard.     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.”
(from http://www.vintagepostcards.org/blog/postcards/determining-locations-of-real-photo-postcards-wadesville-va )

MY POSTCARD DOES NOT INDICATE IF IT IS PART OF A SERIES. How can I find out if it is one of a group and how many cards are in the set or series?

FACTS TO KNOW: Publishers frequently placed numbers along  the side or at the bottom of postcards to indicate sets or series of cards. Occasionally they are found in the stamp box on the back side of the card.
HINTS: Catalogs are helpful in solving this mystery. The Mashburn Catalog , The Postcard Guide  has a chapter devoted to SETS and many artist signed cards cataloged by sets. His Artist Signed Postcard Catalog also lists Artist signed postcards, by sets and series. An excellent resource is The Standard Postcard Catalog by James L. Lowe. His book also devotes many pages exclusively to Sets and Series. You could also look online at Ebay and stores and Dealer websites for similar postcards.
Wouldn’t it be helpful to have a catalog  of POSTCARD SETS AND SERIES containing all known sets. (with an illustration of a card, checklist, publisher, year of publication, and country issuing the series.) Of course, the numerous installment postcards, expo series, comics, and even town views would need to be included. Would you like to start on this research project. If so, be assured that The Postcard Web will be happy to help.
CASE STUDY: “Collecting the postcards of George Willard Bronte was a research project that I started years ago. One by one my collection grew until it reached a total of 10, all identified by his name printed at the bottom of each card. In an attempt to learn if I had collected all of his cards, I placed a permanent search for them on EBay. One day, in response to my search, a book was listed which included his name as the illustrator, so I purchased it for $12. Much to my surprise, when I received the 1904 edition of “The Sandman Rhymes,” there were illustrations by Bronte on every page. All were of animated objects doing strange things. While examining these images, I focused on one that looked familiar. It showed an animated clothespin and a knife Referring to my collected postcards, I found the same sketch on a Raphael Tuck 1920’s COUPLING PIN SERIES of postcards with no named artist. My mind racing, I remembered another Tuck series with similar attributes on the GARDEN TRUCK SERIES also with no named artist. This was a group of anthropomorphic vegetable people talking to each other. On closer examination, I spotted a strange cat-like animal with a heart shaped face that also appeared on one of my original postcards. This was the missing link that tied together all of these postcards which had to be drawn by George Willard Bronte.”

 

Submitted by Stan Davidson

WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT CRITERIA FOR COLLECTING POSTCARDS?

Is it RARITY, IMAGE CLARITY, UNIQUENESS, MARKET VALUE, BEAUTY, PERSONAL REMENISCENCE, or Something Else?

FACTS TO KNOW: This mystery has no answer in this form.

HINTS: The question needs to be rephrased. WHAT ARE YOUR CRITERIA FOR COLLECTING POSTCARDS.

CASE STUDY: Collecting Postcards is a hobby the provides great flexibility to the collector. The individual collector’s personal preferences are the sole factors (criteria) utilized, regardless of what other collectors, friends, or dealers prefer. 

WHAT IS THE FAIR MARKET VALUE OF A SPECIFIC POSTCARD?

When I look online, why do I frequently find duplicate postcards being sold at very different prices, sometimes at 3 or 4 times the price of the least expensive card?

FACTS TO KNOW:
1. There is no single catalog that lists the price or price range of everypostcard.                                                                                                                                           2. There are some reproductions and some reprintings that are not always identified and are therefore sometimes not correctly identified by dealers.                                                                                                 3. YOU CANNOT TELL THE TRUE VALUE OF A POSTCARD BY IT’S APPEARANCE. Some sellers do not know the rarity or true value of postcards. Some dealers appear to be greedy and may overprice their cards.

HINTS: Once again, we refer you to the today’s bible catalog, Mashburns The Postcard Guide which offers price guides for many postcards. This is the major guide used by most Postcard Dealers in the US. In addition, there are specialized Guides with prices for selected groups of  postcards: i.e.           Mashburn’s Fantasy Postcards ; Directory: Alaska Postcards, 1897-1940 by John H. Grainger; Baseball Stadium Postcards by Tom Crabtree; and The Postcards of Alphonse Mucha  by David Bowers & Mary L. Martin. Of course, it is important to adjust the prices based on today’s economy. Another useful tool is eBay’s Realized Prices for specific postcards. Use this information carefully as it will only tell you what one person paid for an item recently, which may be more or less than it’s true value. There may be many reasons for the ebay Realized Price including a faulty Description which limits bidders, condition problems that are not clearly described, or competition between two buyers who place unrealistically high bids.
CASE STUDY: There is a large series of beautiful German Zeppelin postcards that was reprinted beautifully down to having yellow or white backs. If these cards are unused, their pristine backs are the telltale indicators of reproductions, even though there is no statement of reproduction. On the other hand, many of the lovely Kewpie children by O’Neill appear on chrome repros with a note about their printing on the backs. 

SUMMARY
It appears that the many unsolved mysteries are correctly named and will continue to be with the Postcard hobby well into the future. There is a great need for serious research to be conducted on these Mysteries and the findings published for our hobby.  While a few of the mysteries have been solved, the number of closed or completed files are very limited and do not really change the nature of these unsolved mysteries. While we have not intentionally gone into personal preferences and judgmental concerns of collectors, (How to sort and catalog my cards, Should Real Photos be isolated or filed by location or topic?, Should foreign cards be included in a Topical Collection? How should I classify crossover postcards like mermaids – as myths, fantasy, comics, artist signed, or even theme parks?).
Finally, let us take a moment to remind ourselves that this hobby of Postcard collecting is frequently about mysteries. While some of these mysteries may seem challenging to you, the reality is that these puzzles are of little importance to our existence. Have fun in our postcard Hobby!