Pics of Then

By: usermattw

Sep 17 2011

Tags: Lucerne, photography, Saint Bernard, vintage photography

Category: Groups

2 Comments

What it is:

Real photo postcard measuring a bit less than 5.5 x 3.5 inches.

What I know about it:

Undated.  Photo is by Neuhauser of Lucerne (Luzern), Switzerland.  Manufacturer’s logo in the stamp box is an upside-down horseshoe with T.I.C. inside.

Comments:

Since at least one of my “subscribers” is a dog lover, I figured it was time to post a dog picture.  A “real photo postcard” is a method by which the photo is printed directly onto special photographic paper that is a heavier card stock and has typical postcard markings on the back, like a place for the stamp, a place for the address, etc.  The photographer would often stamp his own information on the back in addition to the pre-printed markings.   This was a very popular way of having photographs printed, giving you a photo that was also a postcard ready to be mailed, and the different markings and logos used on the back by the paper manufacturers (Kodak, etc.) can be used to help date them.  The T.I.C. in the upside-down horseshoe was apparently rather rare, and I can’t find anything definitive online.  The best guess of online collectors is that it comes from around the 1920s.  At first I thought, “Surely this picture can’t be that old.  I mean, the people are older, but they’re just wearing old-fashioned styles, right?”   But the more I look at their hats and shoes, particularly the women standing down the sidewalk to the right, the more I think it’s plausible, though I want to say it looks more 1930s at the earliest.  Still, I’m no expert, and I could be way off base.  And the number 532 mysteriously floating to the right of the fence makes me worry that the postcard is a newer reprint until I remember the old paper, and then I’m just confused.  In any case, it’s an interesting picture.  Is it some occasion?   It almost looks like the dog is being honored somehow.  Is it the photographer who left his hat and coat piled up on the wall?  And it almost looks like the dog is without a leash, which is a strange sight to this modern city dweller.