Lot #798: Vintage 1900s USA Oklahoma Postcard - "Greetings from Lacey Oklahoma" - Black Woman and Child - All-Black Town? - "V.O. Hammon?" - Unused

One Vintage 1900s USA Oklahoma Postcard, unused, showing a painting of a black woman and a young black child standing on a river, with the (hand-applied?) caption in cursive handwriting "Greetings from Lacey Oklahoma". This unused full colour postcard does not indicate the publisher but indicates the postage rate as requiring "Place Stamp Here. Domestic One Cent." Logo an Shield with stars and stripes behind the word "Postcard". No Stamp. Never Postally Used. No Message. This Oklahoma postcard is a rare and significant artifact of Social History, capturing a moment in the development of the American West. The "hand-applied" caption suggests it was a "Generic View" card—a high-quality artistic print produced by a major publisher that was then customized by a local merchant in Lacey, Oklahoma, to serve as a hometown souvenir. Lacey is located in Kingfisher County and, in the early 1900s, was part of a rapidly evolving agricultural landscape following the Land Runs. Given the geography, this likely represents an idealized view of the Cimarron River or one of its tributaries, which were vital to the settlement of Kingfisher County. During the Golden Age of postcards, small-town general stores would buy "blank" art cards (often depicting universal themes like rivers or pastoral scenes) and use a rubber stamp or a local calligrapher to add the town name. This made "Lacey" look as prominent as a major city like Oklahoma City or Tulsa. The depiction of a Black woman and child is a notable inclusion for a 1900s Oklahoma card. Unlike the "comical" or "caricature" cards that were unfortunately common in this era, the painting on this card suggests a more dignified, Pictorialist or Romanticized approach. It likely belongs to a series of "American Life" or "Southern Scenes" that were popular with collectors for their artistic merit. Notably, Oklahoma had a unique history of "All-Black Towns" (like nearby Langston or Taft). While Lacey was not an "All-Black" town, this postcard may very well have been designed and stocked with them in mind, and the inclusion of this subject matter on a "Greetings" card reflects the diverse demographic reality of the Oklahoma Territory and early statehood (post-1907). The Shield with stars and stripes is a key diagnostic for American postcard publishers. This logo is most frequently associated with the V.O. Hammon Publishing Co. of Chicago and Minneapolis. They were one of the largest producers of "View" and "Art" cards in the Midwest and were famous for their high-quality German-printed lithography. The "Domestic One Cent" instruction for the Postage Rate confirms a production date between 1901 and 1917, the era when the one-cent stamp (like the green George Washington stamps) ruled the American post. Dimensions: 9 mm x 14 mm Pickup category timeslot {A}