Pretty Ladies on Postcards

What are Exaggeration Postcards?

Exaggeration Postcards feature oversize animals, insects, fruits and vegetables. Popular in the early years of the 20th century these postcards were most often made by cutting, pasting, retouching, and rephotographing but were sometimes made by combining objects or models of different sizes.

The finest of the Exaggeration Postcards were made by the Martin Company.

Bathing Beauty Postcards Video

Postcard Hunting at Wilson Antiques in Traverse City, MI

Wilson Antiques in Traverse City, Michigan is a great place for postcard/antique hunting. It has four floors filled to the brim with interesting and delightful things. I had a great time sifting through it all.

It seemed like almost every booth had at least a small handful of cards to look through. What fun!

Postcard prices ranged from quite fair to quite ridiculous and there were even a few good bargains. After only a few minutes searching I found this very nice cowgirl B&W photo with an AZO postcard back.

I think I'll go out again tomorrow and see what other great postcards I can find in my local antique stores.

How Can I Recognize Real B&W Photo Postcards?

People often ask how to recognize Real B&W Photo postcards. The easiest way is to look at the card under slight magnification. Actual photographs don't have the dot pattern seen on modern cards under a magnifying glass.

Most printed cards will have this dot pattern, much like a photograph printed in a magazine. Additionally, Real Photos can be identified by the photographic paper used. This is often indicated on the back. Also, the captions were often "scratched" or marked on the negative in some other way that leaves the text white in color.

http://www.cycleback.com/photoguide/postcard.html
http://www.madinpursuit.com/Tutorials/Postcards/PostcardRef2.htm