POSTCARDS FROM THE PAST

1940’s White Border Era Postcard

In COLOR COLLOTYPE

TOPIC

Montreal University

Université de Montréal

The Université de Montréal is a French-language

public research university.

Year

1940’s

Era

White Border Era (1915-1930’s)

 Most United States postcards were printed during this period.  To save ink, publishers left a clear border around the view, thus these postcards are referred to as “White Border” cards.  The relatively high cost of labor, along with inexperience and changes in public taste, resulted in the production of poor-quality cards during this period.  Furthermore, strong competition in a narrowing market caused many publishers to go out of business.

Printer

Photogelatine Engraving Co., Ltd.

(1910-1953)

PECO

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The Photogelatine Engraving Company was a major publisher and printer of Canadian view-cards. These cards were made as black & white, monochrome, and tinted collotypes.

The Photogelatine Engraving Company was established in 1910 and incorporated in Ottawa on June 18, 1920. The Corporate Members were Rowley Shillito Hooper (1887-1951), publisher; Arthur William Barker (1868-1941), printer.

The company published postcard views of communities all across Canada and even ventured as far afield as the British West Indies, but reserved their largest output for Ottawa.

The company was bought out after the death of Hooper in 1951 and closed in 1953.

Publisher

Photogelatine Engraving Co., Ltd.

Distributor

Photogelatine Engraving Co., Ltd.

Photographer

Artist

Size

Standard Size: 5 ½ X 3 ½ / 14cm X 8.9cm

Printing Technique

COLOR COLLOTYPE

As in color lithography multiple collotype plates could be employed to create a color image from a black & white original and they began being used this way in 1873. There were two different approaches to the way these multiple plates could combine color. One method was to treat each color as a solid tone; blues would print blue, greens would print green, and only in a few areas would they overlap. In most cases color was applied locally. In collotype, its small distinctive broken ridges of opaque color can only blend optically. While the subtlety of detail rendered was immense, the lack of color blending often created an artificial look.

CONDITION

Unused /Unposted

Corners and edges in good condition.

Smudges on back side.

NO pinholes, tears, creases, stains, smears, or mold.