Saturday 17 January 2015

Large-Letter Postcards - part 1

Birmingham, Alabama
Curt Teich & Co. 1937

These souvenir postcards were hugely popular in in the 1940s and 1950s in America. Companies like Curt Teich and Co. made cards representing every state and almost all the towns and cities (more than 10,000) in the country.

Curt Teich (1877-1974) was a printer who emigrated from Lobenstein, Germany in 1896. Curt Teich and Co. opened in January 1898 in Chicago, Illinois, and closed in 1978. It was the world’s largest printer of view and advertising postcards. Best known for its “Greetings from” series of postcards with big letters, vivid colours, and bold graphic style.

The Curt Teich Postcard Archives, part of the Lake County Discovery Museum at Wauconda, Illinois, is recognised throughout the world as the largest public collection of postcards and related materials.

Another interesting aspect of these Large Letter postcards is that they also were produced during World War Two designed to be sent from military establishments all over the USA. I will feature these at the end of the series in part 6.

I have collected a digital archive of around 2000 Large Letter postcards, but won't be showing all those here. Instead I have chosen interesting examples from across the range of designs and locations represented.


This is part 1 of a 6 – part post on Large-Letter postcards:



Alabama
Curt Teich & Co. 1939

Alabama

Alaska
Curt Teich & Co. 1942

Aniston, Alabama
Curt Teich & Co. 1941

Arizona
Curt Teich & Co. 1939

Arizona
Curt Teich & Co.

Arkansas

Arkansas

Arkansas

Arkansas
Curt Teich & Co. 1939

Bakersfield, California
Curt Teich & Co. 1943

Big Basin Redwood State Park, California
Curt Teich & Co. 1950

Big Bear Lake, California
Curt Teich & Co.

Big Trees, California
Curt Teich & Co. 1950

Birmingham, Alabama

California
Curt Teich & Co.

California

California

California
Curt Teich & Co.


California

California
Curt Teich & Co. 1938

Carmel, California 
Curt Teich & Co. 1942

Catalina Island, California
Curt Teich & Co. 1935

Chico, California
Curt Teich & Co. 1943

Death Valley, California
Curt Teich & Co.

Decatur, Alabama
Curt Teich & Co. 1945

Dothan, Alabama
Curt Teich & Co.

Enterprise, Alabama
Curt Teich & Co.

Flagstaff, Arizona

Fort Smith, Arkansas
Curt Teich & Co. 1951

Fresno, California

Grand Canyon, Arizona
J.R. Willis

Holbrook, Arizona
J. R. Willis

Hollywood, California

Hollywood, California

Hot Springs, Arkansas
Curt Teich & Co. 1934

Huntsville, Alabama
Curt Teich & Co. 1941

Laguna Beach, California
Curt Teich & Co.

Little Rock, Arkansas

Mobile, Alabama
Curt Teich & Co. 1937

Mobile, Alabama

Montgomery, Alabama
Curt Teich & Co.

Montgomery, Alabama

Ozark, Alabama
Curt Teich & Co. 1942

Painted Desert Arizona
J. R. Willis

Petrified Forest Arizona
J. R. Willis

Phoenix Arizona

Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Curt Teich & Co. 1951

Radiator Springs, Arizona

7 comments:

  1. Great pictures of postcards! It’s really great to know about popular 1940’s and 1950’s postcards of America. Do you have paintings of Aboriginal Art form too? Please share here dear if you have any, I would love to see those amazing arts forms!

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  2. Thank you. Yes, if you look in the indexes on the right-hand column you will see "Aboriginal Art"

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  3. WHAT AN INCREDIBLE COLLECTION, I WILL USE SOME ON MY BLOG,WITH CREDITS TO YOU
    http://thisblogadresswasavailable.blogspot.nl/

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  4. I was trying to find this Radiator Springs, AZ and/or Ornament Valley on Mapquest and couldn't find it...was it a real trading post and now maybe a ghost town? Near Monument Valley???

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  5. If it is the "Gateway To The Ornament Valley"...it must be Kayenta, AZ or Gouldings, UT which is just over the state line...but I don't really recognize any of the buildings or landmarks inside the big letters...the hotel with the big A on it or that big black spire...maybe all gone now...

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  6. for the people looking for Radiator Springs.. or Ornament Valley.... you obviously don't watch disney movies...... :P

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  7. What font is the Ornament Valley in? I've been looking for a similar font for weeks now!

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