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Tag Archives: Real photo postcard

Bluff City Mill Fire

Posted on July 29, 2021 by Bob Lawrence

This appears to be the real thing; although, I may be wrong. This Real Photo Post Card (RPPC) depicts a night shot of the fire that devastated Bluff City Mills in July of 1946. The mill was partially rebuilt and finally gave up the ghost somewhere in the early 1990s.

I can’t find any references on the internet to Bluff City Photo Shop, but Frasher’s is well known in and around Pomona CA. The company went out of business circa 1955.

This card was purchased locally by a buddy of mine who has an eagle-sharp eye when it comes to local collectibles.

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Two Kids

Posted on October 7, 2018 by Bob Lawrence

kids2

This is a cropped version of a real photo postcard, printed on Artura stock that was made between 1910 and 1924.  The image was very faded with moderate spotting and scratches.

A couple of things:  I have heavily kicked up the contrast and the sharpness. I brightened the light reflections in the kids’ eyes, but I can’t correct the problem with the left kid’s left leg, as you view him.  Notice that it looks like his leg ends before it even gets to the shoe.  I enlarged it and it appears to be a lens aberration or a case of poor processing.  Maybe he didn’t have a leg there…who knows?

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Early Real Photo Cards

Posted on March 25, 2017 by Bob Lawrence

I can’t tell you who this stylish couple is.  I can’t tell you where they lived, but I can tell you when the photos were taken, within a 4-year period – 1903 to 1907.
The paper these real photo post cards are printed on is an Ansco product called Cyko.  The process of the printing is chlorobromide, yielding a warm brown tone.  Cyko came on the market in 1903 and the undivided-back era ended in 1907, when the Universal Postal Conference agreed to allow a message area on the left side of the back, not just the address.  There’s probably a little slippage on the end date, since, as far as I can tell, the U.S. Post Office didn’t ban these backs, just let them fall out of favor.

The blank area to the right of each picture was there for a message of some sort.  These are either one-offs or part of a very limited edition.

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Baby Pissed

Posted on April 26, 2015 by Bob Lawrence

carrier
According to the back of this old real photo postcard, this is Joyce Alma Carrier, aged 4 months.  I’ve trimmed the picture, so you can’t see that she’s been plunked down in a chair covered with a blanket and forced to pose for a candid.  This young lady is definitely, certainly, absolutely not happy.
I found this at a flea market.  Got it for $1.  Made me laugh.
The postcard is an AZO, with a square at each corner (this is on the back, the place you place the stamp), which puts it in use between 1926 and 1940.

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