Real Photo Postcards

Without the constant improvements in the photographic field, especially in the 1880-90’s but also thereafter, the postcard boom would had hardly become reality.

(Amateur) Photography as a hobby was nothing for the common man due to the costs involved. Anyway, more and more people had their own camera(s), some even with own darkroom equipment and by the late 1890’s you see more and more postcards made by amateur photographers.

An early design appears to be the portrait vignette type in circular shape and background softly faded-out. I show samples (detail), from France and Germany and all p/u between 1899-1901. The photographic trade and photo paper factories were quick to meet the demand for postcard size photo paper with pre-printed back.

This ‘Darkroom romance” has little to do with industrial photographic postcard printing. Somehow it matches anyway. It was gravure printed, published by James Henderson & Sons, London in their ‘Pictorial Comedy’ Post Cards series. Mailed from France to Switzerland in Sept. 1908.

Neue Photographische Gesellschaft (NPG) Berlin,

was the first and for years the world’s biggest factory for real photographic bromide printing “by the kilometre”. The founder and driving force was Arthur Schwarz (born 1862), who had established the Rotograph Company in New York for the automatic printing of photographs in 1892. The NPG was founded by Mr. Schwarz in July, 1894 in Berlin-Schoeneberg. Backbone of the NPG success were machines used for photographic paper / printing constructed after US patents but much improved, however. They were built to last. Some NPG machines installed at the British daughter company Rotary Photographic Co. Ltd. were in use for over 60 years!

Thanks to the various NPG patents registered between 1895-97 for many countries, Arthur Schwarz was in the position to minimise competition. NPG, with branches / associated partner companies in London, New York, Paris, Vienna, Brussels, Milano etc and a total of about 1,500 employees, played a leading role. Not only as photographic printers but also as publishers of thousands of (mostly subject) postcards, stereo cards etc.

The NPG story ends in the early 1922. The decline of the postcard boom, WW1, but also mismanagement (A. Schwarz had to leave his company in 1913) with the introduction of a colour photography process never really ready for the market, meant the end. “Mimosa”, Dresden took over the photo paper production and patents. Local competitor E.A. Schwerdtfeger company took over the NPG trademark and postcard dept. The newly formed NPG Ltd. was in business until WW2 years.

The photographic bromide printing process “by the kilometre” is going to be described in detail on a separate page coming soon.

This is my earliest p/u NPG card mailed in June 1898. Small boy with wooden sailing boat and titled “Columbus”. A so-called Brom-Platino Photograph for the publishing firm Fr. W. Juxberg, Frankfurt/Main. Card no. 99.

‘The real photograph is the original which all other processes merely seek to reproduce’. Quote from a advertising card produced by Lilywhite Ltd., Photographic Printers by the Mile, Triangle, Yorks (Great Britain).

Other photographic printing companies

Although NPG played a leading role, they had not a monopoly. However, their machinery (21 cards were automatically exposed a the same time) as well as the entire well organised ‘workflow’ made it not easy to compete with NPG until about 1907.

French firms soon built up an own strong photo printing production, although they concentrated mostly on the home market. Rotary Ltd, the NPG offshot dominated the British market, Valentine’s followed in 1907. The major competition came from other German companies.

The biggest appears to had been Aristophot AG set up in mid 1902, by putting together the businesses of Aristophot Photographische Maschinendruck Anstalt, Leipzig-Reudnitz (set up around 1900 or even earlier), Otto Lienekampf, also Leipzig and Adolph Engel, Berlin.

Other (early) competitors were: Rotophot (establ. 1900), E.A. Schwerdtfeger both also from Berlin. This city was a center for firms busy in the real photo business. But there were of course more firms in other places (like Regel & Krug, and Max Breslauer both from Leipzig). Most companies of the postcard printing trade who managed to stay in business installed the real photo printing process in order to meet customers demand. Real photo cards were popular for decades!

Woman with Asian-style paper sunshade. Studio photo with “Traut” signature. A Rotophot production (S. 483-5272), hand-coloured. Mailed in Dec. 1905.