POSTCARDS FROM THE PAST

1910 Early Divided Back Era Postcard

In TINTED HALFTONE in Matte Finish

TOPIC

Evening on Columbia River

Washington State, USA

The Columbia River is the largest river

in the Pacific Northwest region of North America.

Year

Curteich # A-18380 = 1910

Era

Early Divided Back Era (1907-1914)

The Golden Age of Postcards

Postcards with a divided back were permitted in the U.S. beginning on March 1, 1907.  (Britain had already pioneered this in 1902.)  The address was to be written on the right side; the left side was for writing messages.  Many millions of cards were published in this era -- it was the golden age of postcards.  Up to this point, most postcards were printed in Germany, which was far ahead of the United States in the use of lithographic processes.  With the advent of World War I, the supply of postcards for American consumption switched from Germany to England and the United States itself.

Printer

Curt Teich Co. 1898-1978
Chicago, Illinois

Curt Teich was already working as a lithographer in Lobenstein, Germany when he emigrated to Chicago in 1895. He would start his own firm in 1898 concentrating on newspaper and magazine printing. While he was an early publisher of postcards, he did not begin printing them in number himself until 1908.

From 1908 until 1913, postcards began with either 'A' or 'R' and were numbered from 1–124180.

Although Curt Teich eventually turned management of the firm over to his son, he remained active in company operations throughout its history. After his death in 1974 the family business was sold to Regensteiner Publishers who continued to print cards at the Chicago plant until 1978. Afterwards the rights to the company name and processes were sold to the Irish firm John Hinde Ltd. Their California subsidiary now prints cards under the name John Hinde Curteich, Inc.

Publisher

Published by Boughton-Robbins Co.

(1900 – 1940’s)

Spokane, Washington

Size

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

Printing Technique

TINTED HALFTONE

In the tinted halftone printing process, a black-&-white (B&W) photograph would a color pallet with several plates drawn in hand with different colors. Since these color plates were created by hand, there were many variations to how these postcards look.

CONDITION

Unused /Unposted

Corners and edges in fair condition.

Tear center bottom edge.

Small crease lower right corner.

NO pinholes, smears, smudges, stains, or mold.