4 Switzerland Postcards, 1960s

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Now listed in Rose’s Sundries

Lots of people are fascinated by cookie cutters and one finds them on christmas trees, and collectible displays everywhere.  If you’re a collector and haven’t hooked up with the collector club, here’s the information that you need. 

Cookie Cutters

Websites

The Cookie Cutter Collectors Club, or “CCCC” as known among the membership, was founded in 1972 in Washington, D.C. by Phyllis Wetherill. She placed an inquiry in the Women’s Circle magazine asking if anyone else collected cookie cutters.  From the response of 4 members, the group has grown to approximately 650 members internationally.  Phyllis  is survived by two other founding members: Jill Tucker of Canada, and Evelyn King of Florida. Lee Carey of Colorado was also a founding member. The group publishes a newsletter for members and membership is $25.oo annually.

CookieCutterSearch.com, a website developed by club member Rosemary Henry, has lots of information on cookie cutters and cookie history. There are sections for “What’s New,” “Antiques,” “History and Information” and a number of other areas as well as a continually growing database of cookie cutters.

Museums

The Cookie Cutter Historical Museum is located in Joplin, Missouri and supported by donations from the CCCC club.

Reference Books

An Encyclopedia of Cookie Shaping -Wetherill

Cookie Cutters and Cookie Molds -Wetherill

 Hallmark Cookie Cutters-Stephenson

Wilton Book of Cookie Cutters -Stephenson

“Run,Run Fast as You Can…” -Nelson

Color Postcards

 Prior to 1930, when color photography was invented, vintage postcards acquired color in one of two ways:  via chromo-lithography or by being hand tinted or hand colored.

This post will focus on hand tinting and a later one will focus on chromolithography.

Hand Tinted Postcards

These postcards began as a conventional black and white photographs and were painted by hand prior to production. In the early days the coloring took place in the photographers studio. As demand expanded, factories were established employing large numbers of women to hand tint photographic images prior to postcard printing. The paints were oil based and transparent and their chemistry was such that many of the colourists were to suffer illness as a result of licking their brushes to form a point.

The earliest images were of glamorous women, of ladies from exotic countries, of actresses or other early 1900′s celebrities. Later, and especially in France, the theme became a patriotic one with soldiers. After the war the coloring became more strident and less realistic. The image was being decorated for shock value rather than attempting to reproduce real life. The coloring was sometimes crudely done, sometimes very accomplished. Some postcards will feature just small color highlighted areas, others attempt to reproduce a lifelike image. The arrival of color photography and the health issues associated with the hand tinted cards resulted in their demise in the 1930′s.

Mirro Cookie Cutters…Turned Hardwood Bowl

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The Most Highly Recommended: 

  The Postcard Price Guide by J.L. Marshburn. Even if you just pick up a card here and there, this reference guide will give you an idea of what to look for in the way of rarities so you can keep an eye out for bargains. It’s also lots of fun to page through just to look at the photos, and offers a good historical perspective as well.
 

Highly Recommended:

• Picture Postcards in the United States 1893-1918  by Dorothy Ryan 
• The Artist-Signed Postcard Price Guide- A Comprehensive Reference
  by J. L. Mashburn
  
•  Postcard Companion: The Collector’s Reference by Jack.H. Smith
• The Encyclopedia of Antique Postcards/Price Guide (Wallace-Homestead Price Guide) by Susan Brown Nicholson
• Standard postcard catalog;: A price guide for postcard collectors, by James Lewis Lowe
• The Collector’s Guide to Postcards by Jane Wood
  

Recommended:

• Fantasy Postcards With Price Guide, A Comprehensive Reference by J.L.Mashburn
  
• Vintage Postcards for the Holidays- Identification & Value Guide
  by Robert Reed, Claudette Reed
  
• The American Postcard Guide to Tuck by Sally Carver
• Postmarked Yesteryear- Art of the Holiday Postcard  by Pamela E. Apkarian-Russell
  

DeGrazia Print…Christopher Paul Bollen Print…Concorde Memorabilia…Vintage Game Paper for Paper Arts

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Now listed in eBay Store

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SOLD

Now listed in eBay Store

There are 2 things you should know about the earliest postcards.

1. The earliest postcards did not have the familiar center line to divide the address from the message.  Divided backs appeared in 1902 in England, 1904 in France, 1905 in Germany, and 1907 in the US.


Undivided Back Era Postcard

2. All undivided back postcards are not the same. There are three different eras of postcards that have undivided backs. Here’s a brief rundown: 

•  
  • The earliest postcards were printed by the postal service, and private printers were not allowed to produce postcards.  This is referred to as the PIONEER ERA (1893-1898) 
  • In 1898, the US government first allowed private printers to produce postcards, but required them to reserve the entire back for the address and postage stamp.  This is referred to as the PRIVATE MAILING CARD ERA (1898-1901)
  • On December 24, 1901, permission was given for use of the wording “Post Card” to be imprinted on the backs of privately printed cards. All cards during this era had undivided backs of privately printed cards. The message, therefore, had to be written on the front (picture side) of the card. For this reason, there is writing on the face of many cards; this is referred to as the UNDIVIDED BACK ERA (1901-1907)