Great early camera display, Hale’s Camera, Claremont NH

May 052011

This real photo postcard sits at the confluence of two very collectible real photo postcard genres: photography-related postcards and advertising postcards. Although it is possible that this is a photograph of a store window, I tend to think that this is a studio shot in front of the photographer’s painted backdrop, which would normally be used for portraits. Here, however, the photographer, a Mr. Geo. A. Hale of Claremont, NH, has posed a wealth of early XXth century cameras, both on tripods and off, and pinned his name, address, and portrait to the backdrop. All manner of early “mass-market” cameras are on display: box cameras of various sizes, a variety of folding cameras, what looks like a stereo-view camera (below the card with Hale’s name), and a single large-format camera in the center. There are slender tripods and sturdy ones, and what I believe are three pyramidal “enlarging cameras” standing on end. With a magnifier, there is a great deal of detail which I’m sure would allow a knowledgeable person to identify the exact camera makes and models on view — I’m guessing that most of them are Kodak models and that many or all of the box cameras are Brownie cameras. Altogether a great collection of early XXth century photographic equipment displayed on a vintage real photo postcard.

This real photo postcard is nicely composed, richly toned, and in beautiful condition. One bumped corner with very small, slight crease, otherwise excellent. Stamped “Hale’s Photo Card, Claremont, NH” on the back left margin. Postally unused; divided back with NOKO stamp box. Item #BRP-020, $345 postpaid.

Revival Meeting Perhaps, Long Pine, Nebraska

Apr 222011

RPPC from Long Pine, Nebraska, Possibly a Revival Meeting, 1909Long Pine, Nebraska, Possibly a Revival MeetingIt’s difficult to know for sure what this real photo postcard is about, but my best guess is that it shows a revival meeting of some sort. A man in his long underwear (apparently) and a flowery print coverall (or dress?) lies in a deep wooden box, his eyes shut. He does not appear to be dead and the box is not the right shape or size for a coffin. His hands are very dark (from working in the sun, presumably) compared to his face. A man in shirt and tie waves his hands above the “dead” man’s head, while a crowd of men and boys looks on. All of this takes place in a canvas-roofed structure under the mid-day sun. I wonder if it is possibly a revivalist-style baptism or rebirth ceremony.

The back of the card contains the message: “Please answer at once for I did not receive your letter. This is the last I have so save [same?]. Come to Long Pine. [Drew?]” It is postmarked Long Pine, Nebraska, September, 1909 and addressed to “Mr. Fred Titus, Boise, Ida., General Del.” The card is in very nice condition except for bumped corners and two small brown stains in the lower right and left corners of the image. Divided back, postally used (stamp missing), AZO four triangles up. Item #BRP-019, $75 postpaid.

Man holding megaphone on a paper moon

Apr 092011

I may have my decades mixed up, but I when I think of the 1910s, I think of crooners in coat and tie singing corny songs into a megaphone. So, although I can’t be sure this man is singing, this real photo postcard is, to me, a quintessential 1910s image. The hat, the cigarette, the stiff detachable collar, the jaunty paper moon, and above all the megaphone ready to amplify that corny song. Plus I like the comet in the backdrop zipping over the top of the man’s head.

This real photo postcard is in very nice condition, postally unused despite the stain on the image side from what appears to have been a stamp, long since gone. Divided back, no stamp box. Item #BRP-018, $45 postpaid.

Winfield Pictures: Checkers and Arizona (1913) Film Posters

Mar 102011

Winfield Pictures Movie Theater, Arizona and Checkers PostersA beautifully composed real photo postcard of an early movie theater absolutely loaded with posters and other promotional materials. Judging from the peeling paint on the arch above the entry, I’d say that this theater had been around a long time before it was converted for films. Below a sign for Winfield Pictures, posters and other pictures for Checkers and Arizona make it hard to find the ticket booth.

From IMBD, a brief plot summary of Checkers (November 1913): “Edward Campbell, known as Checkers, is a racetrack tout. Determined to reform himself, he foreswears gambling, but must take it up once more in order to save someone he loves from disaster.” There are six large posters for the film, plus a framed formal bust portrait of the star, Thomas Ross. Posters advertise “a Company of 100″ and “5 great parts and 225 big scenes.”

From IMDB, a brief plot summary of Arizona (August 1913): “An officer in the U.S. Cavalry sacrifices his reputation to save that of the unfaithful wife of his superior officer.” In the shade of the entry, there’s a large fold-out display (center left) of recognizable Arizona stills. Also a large identified formal bust portrait of Arizona’s author, Augustus Thomas, and in-character identified full-length portraits of the movie’s stars, Robert Broderick, Cyril Scott, Gail Kane, and Alma Bradley. A separate illustrated poster advertises the film as “America’s Greatest Play.”

Note: A variant of this card is reproduced on page 61 of Folk Photography by Luc Sante (Yeti, 2009).

Bumped corners; one corner creased. Otherwise beautiful image with terrific detail. Postally unused; divided back with AZO four triangles up stamp box. Item #BRP-016. $335 postpaid. SOLD

Dramatic Image of Early Photographer’s Studio, Tekoa, WA

Mar 062011

RPPC of Early Photographer Studio Tekoa WashingtonBack of RPPC of Early Photographer Studio Tekoa WashingtonReal photo postcard photographers photographed many different subjects, and a very popular one was the studio portrait. This postcard shows a very early twentieth century portrait studio, with the wall-window-and-drapes style painted backdrop found in so many formal studio portraits of the period (on postcards and elsewhere). It’s a beautifully composed still-life containing the photographer’s desk (with the day’s newspaper ready to be read), various reflectors, stands, chairs, a Gibson-Girl-style calendar (date unreadable), wooden floor and dusty rug, and off in the shadows on the left, a large bellows camera on a wheeled base. Especially notable is the main source of light, the large window cut into the wall and ceiling so it extends out over the area where the subject would pose.

There is writing on the back in pencil in three different hands. Two of the three identify the location as Tekoa, Washington, a small town south of Spokane near the Idaho border. I cannot, however, find anything in the image to confirm this. Thus, either the location given is speculation, first-hand but unattributed knowledge, or the result of a cross-reference (a maker-marked studio portrait, for example) known to a previous owner of the card.

Photographer’s studio images are rare in real photo postcards, and this one is dramatic, richly toned, and in beautiful condition. Very slight edge wear, otherwise excellent. Postally unused; divided back with CYKO stamp box. Item #BRP-017. $750 postpaid.

Lewis River Land Company, Notary Public, Washington

Feb 282011

This image makes an interesting contrast to the previously posted OK Real Estate Company real photo postcard. Here, restraint is the order of the day for this fellow, who was a notary public and insurance salesman, and apparently a land agent as well. The most prominent signs advertise “Notary Public,” “Agency/Phenix/Land Co./Brooklyn, NY” and “Lewis River Land Co./Farms/Stump Land/Town Property/Insurance.” A very dark sign on the door reads “The Liverpool & London & Globe Insurance Co./Lewis River Land Company, Agents.”

Perhaps to keep the sun out, sheets of newspaper cover several upper window panes. Down on the window shelves and barely visible are a line of small white placards containing notices of some sort (the texts are not legible). These are mounted on sticks, which are in turn stuck in what appear to be several rows of large onions. A pencil note on the back identifies the location as La Center, Washington. Although I find nothing in the image that indicates La Center specifically, La Center is indeed close to the Lewis River (and the Columbia).

This real photo postcard has two bumped corners (upper left and lower right), but is otherwise in very nice condition. Postally unused; divided back and CYKO stamp box. Item #BRP-014. $55 postpaid.

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