Lot #747: Two Vintage USA Humour Postcards - "Little Man" (Samuel Goldring, Atlantic City, N.J.) - "Paddy Wagon Leaving Town" (Tichnor Bros., Boston)

This lot features two Vintage USA Humour Postcards: (1) First, one 1930s Vintage USA Topical Humour Postcard, unused, showing a man and woman in the Ocean with the message "Oh! George! You're such a little man!". (The man’s "tank suit" indicates the early rather than later 1930s) This black and white postcard is copyright by Samuel Goldring and indicates "Jersey Supply Co. - 245 S. Tennessee Avenue, Atlantic City, N.J.". This postcard is a classic example of Atlantic City "Boardwalk Humour" from the 1930s. During the Depression era, Atlantic City was the epicentre of American seaside tourism, and the Jersey Supply Co. was a major player in documenting the sights (and the jokes) of the famous resort. The Black and White format of this card was often a deliberate choice in the 1930s to keep production costs low. Samuel Goldring & Jersey Supply Co. was a well-known name in New Jersey souvenir publishing. 245 S. Tennessee Avenue is right in the heart of the Atlantic City "Inlet" district, just blocks from the Boardwalk and the famous Steel Pier. Jersey Supply Co. functioned as a local distributor that specialized in "view" and "humour" cards specifically for the New Jersey shore market. While the Tichnor Bros. card from Boston also included in this lot had national reach, this Goldring card is a hyper-local artifact of the Jersey Shore. These "Humour" cards were the 1930s equivalent of a souvenir t-shirt. (2) Second, one 1940s Vintage USA Topical Humour Postcard, unused, showing a man leaving town in a Police Paddy Wagon with the message "Hey Gang! I'm leaving town. Back in .... days". This coloured postcard was made by "Tichnor Bros., Boston" using "Tichnor Quality Views." The Publisher: Based in Boston, Tichnor Bros. was a powerhouse from roughly 1912 through the 1950s. Their "Tichnor Quality Views" was their trademark branding, for a specialized American process that produced high-contrast, saturated colors. This card uses "linen" cardstock (popular from the 1930s to the 1950s) that allowed for the use of very bright, fast-drying inks that made the "Humour" series pop. The "Fill-in-the-Blank" format of "Back in .... days" space allowed a traveler to quickly customize the card. It was designed for efficiency, much like the "Address Only" cards of the 1910s, but with a much more informal, comedic tone. The "Gang" terminology and the cartoonish style of the Police Wagon are hallmarks of 1940s-era American comic art. Dimensions: 9 mm x 14 mm Pickup category timeslot {A}