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Novelty postcards

Written by admin on 26 November, 2009 – 10:46 pm -

It was our Edwardian forebears who first took to decorating postcards with real hair, real feathers, glitter or coloured glass. It was they who first embellished them with silk or satin or gingham. Even then, gimmickry, it seems, was held in high commercial esteem.

As the name may suggest, novelty postcards were not only produced by the 'regular' manufacturers of postcards, but other publishers, such as W. N. Sharpe of Bradford, for example, created a series entitled 'Fab Patchwork', whereby silk patches on the picture sides could be removed in order to make patchwork cushion covers. Callender Paper Mills in Ireland even manufactured card out of real peat.

Max Ettlinger, a relatively short lived publisher (between 1901 and 1916) produced postcards with droll heads with cigars stuck in their mouths. They also released squeaking postcards onto the world, with pictures of animals, birds and children ingeniously concealing a device which would let out a sound when pressed - guaranteed to annoy adults and give hours of fun for the children.

Perhaps the most celebrated of the novelty postcard genre is the hold to light (H.T.L.) group. These take many forms, of which, transparencies with the colour and even subject changes are the most delightful. Ordinary views can be transformed to show pastel coloured scenes or a jolly Santa Claus. Then at the beginning of WWI we started to see novelties such as 'Find the submarine' - when held to the light, the erstwhile calm seas upon which British ships were sailing were revealed to contain an enemy submarine lurking beneath.

SGTBILKOVideo Sleeve CoverPHIL SILVERS TV SGTBILKOVideo Sleeve CoverPHIL SILVERS TV Paypal 0 Bid £.99 2h 57m
8X6 POST CARD DDAY LANDINGS 8X6 POST CARD DDAY LANDINGS Paypal 0 Bid £.50 5h 7m
8X6 POST CARD JANE AUSTIN IN BATH 8X6 POST CARD JANE AUSTIN IN BATH Paypal 0 Bid £.50 5h 22m
Kenneth Williams Pop Art postcard print Clown Carry On Kenneth Williams Pop Art postcard print Clown Carry On Paypal 0 Bid £.99 6h 24m
AFTER THE BATTLEWELLINGTON 111 BOMBER1942210mmX150mm AFTER THE BATTLEWELLINGTON 111 BOMBER1942210mmX150mm Paypal 0 Bid £.99 7h 28m
NOVELTY WITH PULL OUT PICTURES ON THE FRONT VIEW NOVELTY WITH PULL OUT PICTURES ON THE FRONT VIEW Paypal 0 Bid £.99 8h 33m
Gone With the Wind film poster postcard Clark Gable Gone With the Wind film poster postcard Clark Gable Paypal 0 Bid £.99 10h 34m
Back to the Future poster movie postcard Michael J Fox Back to the Future poster movie postcard Michael J Fox Paypal 0 Bid £.99 10h 53m
A nice Weymouth Pull Out card A nice Weymouth Pull Out card Paypal 0 Bid £4.99 11h 18m
SEASIDE HUMOUR VERY OLD B W CARD SEASIDE HUMOUR VERY OLD B W CARD Paypal 0 Bid £.45 11h 22m
SIMPSONS SIMPSONS Paypal 0 Bid £.99 11h 35m
GREETINGS FROM MY LITTLE WORLD NOVELTY POSTCARD GREETINGS FROM MY LITTLE WORLD NOVELTY POSTCARD Paypal 0 Bid £.99 11h 35m
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