Vol. 3, No. 3, April-May 2007 

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Postcard News From Courthouse Square

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Get out to a Postcard Show....it'll do you good!

NEW!!Free Classifieds, see below for details!

(Show Promoters, see info below for listings in our Postcard News from Courthouse Square -Show Calendar, $15 for 12 issues or until show date)

Summer Postcard Show

Friday Aug 3, 10am till 6 pm

Saturday Aug 4, 10 am till 4 pm

Admission is free with Museum Admission

Call 847-968-3400 for more information

Lake County Discovery Museum

Route 176 and Fairfield Rd

Wauconda IL

www.LakeCountyDiscoveryMuseum.org

(see our ad below)

Postcard and Paper Show and Sale

Lamplighter Inn-North

Friday Aug 24, 10 AM to 6 PM (Early Bird at 9am)

Saturday Aug 25 , 2007 , 10 AM to 4 PM

I-44 at Glenstone Exit 80A, next to Cracker Barrel

2820 N Glenstone (host motel reservations 800 707 0326)

Springfield Missouri

postcards@courthousesquare.net

St Louis Gateway  Postcard Club Show, Collinsville IL

Friday Aug 31, 10am - 6pm

Saturday Sept 1, 9am - 4 pm

VFW Hall

1234 Vandalia, Collinsville IL

Fall Dallas Metro Postcard

Show and Sale

Friday, Sept 21, 2007, 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM (Early Bird available at 9:00am)

Saturday, Sept 22, 2007 10:00AM to 4:00 PM

NOTE:THIS IS A FRIDAY-SATURDAY SHOW

Southfork Hotel

(formerly Fred Harvey Hotel)

Hwy 75, 1600 North Central Expry Exit 29 (east)

Plano, TX

Admission $2(for both days)

Plenty of Free Parking, great area restaurants and lodging

Special Early Bird Admission($5) available at 9:00 am Friday

Special Postcard Show Hotel Rate available, ask 1-972-578-8555

A new article from Dr. Thomas O. Garnhart, author of the Checklist of Curt Teich Linen Comic Postcards and Comic Postcards of WWII

Among the thousands of World War II comic postcards that were produced, many sets are both delightful and reasonably available. One such series, produced by Colourpicture of Cambridge, Mass. was called "Series B Home Folks to Service Men 10 Subjects." The series name is usually inscribed on the left margin of the address side of the card. On their face they are numbered 300 309.

Each of these ten cards includes a Service Flag showing a blue star on a white background with a red border. This emblem was proudly displayed in the windows of homes with a son or daughter in uniform. Families with more than one in the military would display additional blues stars on their Service Flag. A gold star indicated that a son or daughter had died while serving. This banner was first used in 1917.

Of all the series of comic WWII cards, this is the only one that focuses entirely on the "home front." In doing so, this series gives a glimpse into our cultural history showing how folks at home were affected by the war. Thus two of these cards make reference to wartime shortages/rationing. On one inscribed, "Buddie, we're getting in the scrap too!" a couple is seen pushing a wheelbarrow of reusable scrap metal. On another a couple rides a bicycle &endash; thus saving not only rationed gasoline, but rubber needed for the war effort. Its inscription carries a dual message: "You can count on US Soldier! We'll keep 'em rolling!" Another fascinating card refers to Roosevelt's "Fireside Chats" showing two men sitting around a pot bellied stove having their own "chat".

Several others of this series voice empathy for various military tasks with humurously inadequate comparisons: "Pa says, 'A good soldier knows how to take orders! And he ought to know!" is inscribed on a card with Dad being lectured by Mom. Another shows Dad with an oil can, a mouse under the bed with the caption, "Soldier I'm on guard, too …" Still another features Dad peeling potatoes while being watched by Mom with a rolling pin. "Hi'ya soldier you're not the only one on K. P.!"

The cards in this series can be purchased from knowledgeable dealers in the $5 to $12 range though they may sometimes be found among miscellaneous comics for much less. The artist has not yet been identified though all 10 cards are clearly drawn by the same hand.

A new article from Dr. Thomas O. Garnhart, author of the Checklist of Curt Teich Linen Comic Postcards and Comic Postcards of WWII

(Editors note: It was great to get to visit with Tom at the Lyn Knight Auction and the Kansas City Postcard Show in May. We look forward to seeing and hearing his presentation of the program at the Wichita International Postcard Show and Sale in October....jim)

By Bob Bogdan

During the first third of the 20th century the area in which most people who receive this newsletter had many talented photographers. They took the photos that collectors of real photo postcards seek today. The most desirable cards are typically those taken by commercial photographers who were well established in the different towns and who had a long photographic career. Some started as photographers before the postcard craze and jumped on the band wagon when the frenzy for postcards began. Others rode to a successful photographic career by embracing the photo postcard fad and remaining photographers after the public's taste for postcard photographs passed. While collectors of local photo postcard have noticed who took the images and some have attempted to come up with check lists of the numbered cards they produced they have been less active in doing biographical research. They haven't asked: Who where the photographers? What were their lives like? How did they accomplish their work? How did they fit within the communities they were apart of? We could all benefit if we knew more about those photographers we praise today. It would be a wonderful project to create a directory of postcard photographers from the area complete with biographic and other information that would be helpful to collectors.

Most postcard collectors are not trained researchers and may shy away from taking on projects directed at investigating the old time photographers. I encourage you to give up your reservations and to go out into your community and research the postcard photographers that you admire. You might discover that doing photographer centered biographic and historical research provides a unique and rewarding approach to doing history that illuminates aspects of small town life and culture unavailable by other methods. This approach also enriches the experience of collecting. In addition, by doing research on photographers of interest to you, you can make a significant contribution to your community. Lastly, if done as a group project, it could provide a method to get people working together that might strengthen the hobby.

Start your research by carefully examining cards by the photographers. Captions and other text as well as the pictures can reveal photographers' addresses, towns covered, years they were active, subject matter, partners and other details. Postcard photographers often produced self promoting advertising cards that are full of information. Visit your local historical societies and libraries as well, any public or private location where historical documents from your area are housed. Religious institutions keep records; government agencies have birth and death records. Don't forget the census. Ask your local librarian where you can see micro film of the original enumerator reports. Find out where copies of old local papers are housed. They contain business ads and obituaries. Follow-up on leads others give. Seek out old timers who are long term residents of your area. Try tracking down descendents of the photographer. Search for the photographer's family name in local phone books and make calls. Go door to door in the photographer old neighborhoods. Place classified ads in local papers seeking contacts. Be a detective looking for a deceased missing person.

In order to get information you have to be polite but socially aggressive. Put your inhibitions aside and say to yourself: "As a researcher, it is my job to probe." In other words put on a researcher's personality. Do not apologize for what you are doing. Bolster yourself with the knowledge that your research is important. The information may be gone forever if not for your efforts. (The last of the people who have first hand knowledge of postcard photographers are in their eighties and nineties.) By doing this research you are giving to the community. Most people you contact will understand this.

Develop a standard explanation of what you are doing. Introduce yourself using it. It can be as simple as: "I am a postcard collector doing research on John Doe, a photographer who worked in Drumright, Oklahoma. I hope to publish the information I find." Many potential informants who own postcards are put off by people who want to buy their cards. Separate your research project from your collecting and make it clear that your purpose is to collect information not purchase cards

I have done biographical research on a number of photographers who practiced their trade in Upstate New York. The photographers I have chosen to study lived relatively long lives, spent most of their careers as photographers, took memorable photo postcard photographs and were prolific. I suggest you pursue image makers with a similar profile. There is likely to be more information about them available and your time is better spent on people whose photographic legacy is important rather than minor figures.

Do not be discouraged. The initial phases of the research, where you only have the photographers name and a few examples of his or her work can be most frustrating especially if your first few tries yield nothing. A major breakthrough could be around the corner. Each new piece of information, an address, a relative, provides additional leads to other possible sources of information. The information gathering can snowball.

Lastly, much of the fun and opportunities in this kind of work is that it is serendipitous. Moments and sources arise and you pursue them to places you never suspected you would go. Enjoy the hunt. I look forward to seeing the results in newsletter and, eventually, in a publication.

(A length discussion of research postcard photographers is found in Bogdan and Weseloh, Real Photo Postcard Guide: The People's Photography, Chapter 7)

(Ed. note: "A version of this article appeared in the Washington Crossing Postcard Collector's Club Newsletter)

(another Ed. note: We enjoyed our opportunity to visit with Robert at the Lyn Knight Auction, and the Kansas City Postcard Show in May. Bob's latest book, Real Photo Postcard Guide: The People's Photography, by Bodgan and Weseloh. is having a major affect on how collectors evaluate their finds and their collections...and thanks for the article....jim)

This Month's Featured Post Card Club:

St Louis Gateway Post Card Club

The St. Louis Gateway Post Card Club is hosting its 32nd annual show over Labor Day weekend Friday, August 31, 2007, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, September 1, 2007, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The show, featuring some 25 dealers, will once again be held at the convenient, spacious, and well-lighted VFW Hall at 1234 Vandalia St. (Hwy 159) in Collinsville, IL just east off Interstate 55/70. The Gateway Show is one of the few that offers free admission plus free parking, free appraisals, and attendance prizes. There is excellent food available on site, especially those delicious home-made pies.

The Gateway Post Card Club, one of the older clubs in the nation, was founded on January 7, 1974. Monthly meetings are held at the Kirkwood Community Center, 111 S. Geyer Rd. in St. Louis, except for July when there is a picnic, September because of the show, and December we have a holiday party at a local restaurant. At our monthly meetings, members begin to arrive at 6:30 p.m. for buying and selling of post cards. A short business meeting starts at 7:30 p.m., followed by a featured program of interest or an occasional auction of post cards. We invite you to attend one of our monthly meetings and consider membership, which is only $10.00 a year and includes your spouse. The membership more than pays for itself with the value received in the July picnic, December holiday party and most importantly a quality and informative quarterly newsletter. Membership also entitles one to early admission to the annual show.

The Kirkwood Community Center has been our home since our founding but our annual show had moved several times over the years to different St. Louis hotels until we located the excellent VFW facility in Collinsville in 1990 and the show has been held there since. Whether you are a veteran collector, a beginner, or just someone who has a few cards which you would like to know more about, our show is the place for you. We have a good cross-section of knowledgeable dealers with thousands of quality post cards for sale in all price ranges, old to new, and from subjects A-Z. You name it and I'm sure you will find it. It's a casual atmosphere where you can browse leisurely to find that perfect card or just learn more about what the exciting hobby of post card collecting is all about.

If you have questions or need more information, please contact our show chairman Tom Snyder at 618-531-4189 or by e-mail at: the.snyders@charter.net

Hope to see you there!

Colorado History: Insights and Views Through Postcards

by Charles Harbert

This is the first Colorado postcard book in many years and the most comprehensive in terms of the scope of images and its historical content. The new 315-page book contains 275 high-quality color and black and white images of towns and people throughout the state. Written with historical themes, it includes chapters on Mining, Agriculture, Small Towns, Denver, Tourism, Fun Times, Hard Times, Postcard Photographers, and portfolios on Occupations and People of Colorado. It also includes helpful appendices on the history and dating of postcards as well as the nuts and bolts of postcard collecting. The book contains many outstanding images of street scenes, store fronts, interiors, railroad depots, mining, horse drawn wagons, baseball, brewery, Indians, etc. This is a highly desirable book for any collector of postcards. It is available in both soft cover and leather-bound, limited-edition hardback copies.

Charles (Chuck) Harbert, a member of the Wichita and Denver Post Card Clubs, began his working life as an organic chemist at Pfizer. He is one of the inventors of Zoloft, the world's leading antidepressant drug. Since retiring in 1999, Dr. Harbert has devoted more time to the study of postcards and history.

Order Now!! Soft $50.00, plus $5 shipping.

Limited Edition Hard Cover $175.00, plus $5 shipping.

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Real Photo Postcard Guide

The People's Photography

Robert Bogdan and Todd Weseloh

September 2006 Syracuse University Press

Cloth $39.95, plus $5 shipping.

8 1/2 x 11, 288 pages, 367 black-and-white photographs, appendixes, bibliography, notes, index

"I would not be suprised if this book becomes a bible for serious collectors of real photo postcards." -- Bruce Nelson, The Postcard Collector

From the end of the nineteenth century through at least a third of the twentieth century, Americans became avid consumers and collectors of an incredible number and range of photo postcards. The Real Photo Postcard Guide is an informative, comphrehensive, and practical treatment of this photographic genre. Robert Bogdan and Todd Weseloh draw on extensive research and observation to address all aspects of the photo postcard from its history, origin, and cultural significance to practical matters like dating, purchasing, condition, and preservation. Celebrating both their artisitc and documentary value, the authors bring to light photo postcards as marvelous pieces of Americana and a vital part of our photographic legacy.

Use Paypal, Order Now from CourthouseSquare.net Cloth $39.95, plus $5 shipping.

(above is cover scan)

* 70+ pages, 8 1/2 x 11 *2400 detailed listings *Over 200 Large Letter included

*Index of every card by inscription*Index of artist

*Over 110 publishers included *More than 100 color illustrations (thumbnails)

*"Unidentified" publishers described

This new checklist titled Comic Postcards of WWII has been in the works for the past year, and is ready to go. It also includes large letter military linens. This new and updated list includes considerably more data than previous resources.   A helpful feature of this new publication is an index of cards by the inscription on the cards face that indicates the name of the publisher.  Since many cards are difficult to identify, this is of great help to the collector. Color illustrations are included to define the style of various publishers, including previously unidentified publishers. This list has been authored by Dr. Thomas O. Garnhart, author of the popular Checklist of Curt Teich Linen Comic Postcards. $29.95 plus p/h. Click here for order info.

or order now from CourthouseSquare.net, using Paypal

Checklist COMIC POSTCARDS OF WWII- $29.95 + $5 p/h

Order Now!!

by Thomas O. Garnhart

The Checklist of Curt Teich Linen Comic Postcards is the first definitive and systematic cataloging of linen comic postcards by this quality printer and publisher. Amidst the growing popularity of linens, it is a valuable resource for both collectors and dealers. Some 1548 detailed entries list cards in order of the production. Value ranges are provided to identify the comparative desirability/rarity of each postcard. Detailed information is given about each entry, including inscriptions, series names, and indicators of which are WWII related and which are black racial stereotypes. $24.95 + p/h visit this link for details and scan of cover.

Use Paypal, Order Now from CourthouseSquare.net, Checklist Curt Teich Linen Comic Postcards- $24.95 + $5 p/h