Featured "Greeting" Postcards

I picked up these 5 "greeting card" postcards for 10 cents a piece at a church rummage sale this morning. Not sure why, because this isn't an area I collect, but I found the graphics interesting. All "used" and postmarked between 1906 and 1918. Strangely, they were sent to people in 3 different towns in Maine, one in Kansas and the last in Oklahoma. I say "strangely" because I found them here in Seattle! I even checked to see if there were any surnames in common, thinking they had all come here with the same family. But struck out there too.

I know many of you appreciate the older style graphics, so I thought I would share. Perhaps you have some of your own that you could add!

 

Nice! All different styles, too.

My guess is that these might have been from a postcard collector?



This is one that I have... I might have posted this before here, or in the other place.

Fig

 

You know, I had not thought of that. You may be right.

There was quite a pile in a box to pick through. A number of New Orleans street scenes (mostly building details with locations hand annotated on the reverse) and plenty of your typical "tourist" cards from hotels, restaurants and resorts. And then a very large group of Norwegian cards - almost all Christmas Greetings and the handwritten messages on the back in Norwegian. Unfortunately they were not "graphically inspired." Those are a dime a dozen here.

 

Love them all! I'm the 'sign guy' here so I should!

 

Remember in the 80s when cards like these were mounted in clear glass ? I had quite a few,I loved them.

 

I guess I missed that fad, johnny, but I bet they would look great that way.

 

Bakers, two of your cards are signed by the artist, which usually makes them more valuable. The last one was signed by Frances Brundage, whose work is very collectible. You might want to research the value.

Fig, ditto on your card. I'm not familiar with the artist, but he/she might be someone well known.

 

Thank you Pat!. I had noticed the surname Brundage but wasn't sure what the first name was.

Is the other one Divig?

 

I tried looking up "Divig" or something similar in my two postcard books, but nothing turned up.

On the Brundage card, is there a publisher's name or initials somewhere or a series name or number? If I have that info, I can try locating it in my books.

 

Yes, there is! "New Year" Series-Artistic Postcard No. 1301. Printed in Germany. There is also a G in a squarish shaped artist's palette, with a paint brush through it?

 

Fig, is your card marked "Raphael Tuck" on the other side? Is the back what's called "undivided" (i.e., doesn't have a place for a message)?

One of my books, published in 1993, lists valentine postcards with undivided backs drawn by R. Outcault and published by Tuck. The value given for middling condition is $10-13. The other book, published in 2001, says $10-12. Once the internet made postcards much more widely available, I suspect most prices dropped, however.

Tuck was one of the most prominent postcard publishers and their items are collectible in themselves. R. Outcault was a U.S. artist.

 

In the tiniest of tiny print, the one signed DIVIG, says Copyright 1909 by A. Blue.

 

It looks like the Brundage card was published by Sam Gabriel. I found another one from the same series.

In my 1993 and 2001 books, the price for other series of Brundage/Gabriel New Year's cards is $10-12 (I didn't see your series). But, again, prices may be lower today. With some other holidays, prices can go a lot higher since they're not as common.

One possibility, though... most of the Brundage cards I've seen are pretty girls. Since your card is amusing and tells a story, it's possible it might be worth more.

 

Hmm, I can't find anything about Divig or Blue. I've checked both my books, plus this postcard site that I recommend highly...

http://www.metropostcard.com/

I'm surprised that web searches aren't turning up anything, either. Postcard collecting was a huge hobby in the first two decades of the 20th century, so there were many, many publishers. Some may have been tiny concerns that didn't stay in the business very long.

 

Thanks for looking, Pat! I do have to say that most of these cards are not in the best shape (I have no idea how much edge wear and slight creases affect the collectability of a PC.)

I don't sell (at least not right now) so who knows.

 

Sure, anytime!

Damage does affect value, but sometimes paper items are rare enough that even with damage they're still fairly collectible.

 

Here are a few greeting postcards I've had with sweet images of children...

 

Pat, Also my card was published by Raphael Tuck & Sons, which is another indication of collectibility, I've heard. Oh, I just saw your later post... yes, that is it. I don't sell, and don't collect this type of card. I just bought that one on a whim.

 

Ah, so it is Tuck card, Fig. I love the look on the dog's face!