Post Card Articles

UNIQUE POSTCARD DESIGNS

Unique Postcard Designs

Tinselling

Tinselling of postcards was a common practice and one frequently used by dealers to enhance the sales of slow-moving stock. The lines on the view selected for highlighting were drawn on with a steel pen dispensing a special tinselling glue. Tinsel, mica, diamond dust, small transparent beads or finely ground glitter was taken from a special jewelling outfit, shaken on the postcard and the residue blown away. In 1907 the Canadian Post Office Department briefly prohibited their transmission in the mail because of the damage they were causing to electric stamping machines in use at city post offices.

Vignette

Vignette is the name given to the style of finish in which the background of the image or a portion of it appears to fade away gradually into the paper.

Bookmark

The Rotary Photographic Co. of London, England established in 1901, was a huge publisher of real photo postcards. One of their unique novelty postcards was a 1 3/4" x 5 1/2" photo series of bookmark cards. Most seem to have been posted in the 1903-04 period. Pugh Manufacturing Co. and Rumsey & Co., both of Toronto, published in 1910-11 a similar novelty postcard, 1 1/4" x 5 1/2", with the name Book Post Card. The cards were printed in England, probably by Rotary Photographic. Rumsey & Co. published a number of Hamilton subjects. To date no Hamilton subjects by Pugh Manufacturing have been seen.

Deckle Edge

The deckle edge postcard was die-cut to give a wavy or uneven edge. Most of the examples seen are chrome postcards of relatively recent date.

Embossed Printing

In embossed printing, the letters or illustrations in part or in whole are in prominence. Heavily embossed cards because of the indentation on the back caused problems. The problems this caused when addressing the card or writing the message required a separate backing.

Felt Pennant Applique

The pennant postcard was a stock card carried by a publisher which could be imprinted with a town or city name on request. In this case felt fabric has been cut in a pennant shape and printed with the city name then glued to the postcard. A number of felt pennant applique postcards were published by K.&T., an American firm. Later to come there was an even more elaborate design combining the felt pennant with a photo insert then embossing and airbrushing.

Foil Pennant Applique

One of the more elaborate mail novelties seen was produced by Valentine and Sons' Publishing Co. about 1917. It has an applique pennant of ribbed blue foil printed with the city name over which a circular real photo view has been attached.

Gelatine Film

Some postcards were treated with a film of gelatin which is a varnish-like coating that produced a glossy surface. Unfortunately the coating was brittle and the surface had a tendency to crack. The cards also tended to curl and the gelatine coating peeled back at the corners.