Real Photo Post Cards
by Morgan Williams
Exaggeration Postcards 1909-1923
ALFRED STANLEY JOHNSON RAPIDLY EXPANDS HIS PHOTO STUDIO IN 1909,
WAUPUN, WISCONSIN
Published postcards showing American abundance, prosperity,
humor, tall-tales, and folklore through exaggerated postcard images.
First 21 exaggeration images created in 1909 and early 1910 were
published as Real Photo Post Cards (RPPC).
By Morgan Williams
Collector of Exaggerated Postcards
Washington, D.C., January 2019
In the summer and fall of 1909 all of that suddenly changed.
On October 26, 1909, Johnson copyrighted and published his
first Real Photo Post Card (RRPC) exaggerated image entitled
Carp Caught In Beaver Dam
Pond, Beaver Dam, Wis.
Click Here for larger image
Four days later, on October 30, 1909, Johnson copyrighted
twelve exaggerated postcard images and started publishing them as
Real Photo Post Cards (RPPC)(see RPPC description below). The
early postcards were sold mainly in the Waupun area. The first
postmark I have found on a Johnson RPPC exaggerated postcard is
November 9, 1909 on a postcard entitled
Rock River Carp.
The other early postmarks found on Johnson RPPC exaggerated cards in
November and December 1909 were on Nov 2, 15, 16, 24, 26 and for
December on 20, 22, and 24th, 1909. 9.
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Postmarked 09 Nov. 1909 this is the
earliest we have in our combined collections. Rock River Carp Caught in Horicon Marsh, Horicon Wis Click here for larger image and other versions. |
Postcard collectors today call a postcard a 'Real Photo Post Card
(RPPC)' if the photographic image was published on photographic
paper (see footnote below).
JOHNSON'S EXAGGERATION REAL PHOTO POST CARDS - OCTOBER 1909
The Johnson RPPC's known to collectors include the exaggerated image copyrighted on October 26, 1909 and twelve images copyrighted on October 30, 1910. These were (1) Apples, (2) Cat Fish Caught In Beaver Pond, Beaver Dam, WIS., (3) Cat Fish Caught in River, Ripon, Wis, (4) Cutting Cabbage, (5) Our Corn, (6) Grapes, (7) Loading Cabbage, (8) Load of Cabbage, (9) Onions (10) Potatoes, (11) Rock River Cat Fish, (12) Rock River Carp, (13) Some Tomatoes, and (14) Sugar Beets.
Click on the individual captions above for larger
images.
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The Johnson RPPC's known to collectors also include five additional
images, copyrighted in early 1910, that were published as RPPC's.
They were (1) How is This [catching fish], (2) Pickerel, (3)
The
"Buck Fever", (4) Big Pike, (5) Two Hours Catch. Also in
early 1910 was created and published as a printed postcard an image
called Catfish. This image is one collectors think might also
have been published as a RPPC but one has not been found.
One additional exaggerated image has been found as a
RPPC, Digging Asparagus, there is no copyright date shown on face of
card. The last exaggerated images created by Johnson that were
copyrighted and printed at RPPC's were the five in early 1910.
All the rest of the Johnson exaggerated images were published as
printed postcards between 1910 and 1923. Johnson started
printing his exaggerated images as printed postcards in early 1910,
instead of as RPPC's.
THE TWENTY-ONE JOHNSON EXAGGERATION RPPC'S DIFFICULT TO FIND
A total of twenty-one exaggerated images by Johnson have been
found to have been published as RPPC's. Joyce Tice and I
always welcome information from collectors that expand on, add to,
etc. the information provided in the articles about Johnson.
The Johnson RPPC postcards have the standard RPPC backside with no
additional writing.
Exaggerated RPPC's by Johnson are extremely difficult for
collectors to find. Most likely they were produced only
between October 1909 and around March of 1910. The number of
each exaggerated RPPC published by Johnson was quite small.
The most difficult to find are: (1) Big Pike (2) Digging Asparagus,
(3) Carp Caught in Beaver Dam Pond, Beaver Dam, Wis., (4) Cat Fish
Caught In Beaver Pond, Beaver Dam, Wis., (5) Cat Fish Caught in
River, Ripon, Wis, (6) Grapes, (7) How is This, (8) Pickerel, (9)
Rock River Cat Fish, (10) Rock River Carp, (11) Some Tomatoes, and
(12) The "Buck Fever" and (13) Two Hours Catch.
Of the 21 Johnson exaggerated RPPC images outlined above the
following images were never published as a printed postcard: (1)
Carp Caught in Beaver Dam Pond, Beaver Dam, Wis., (2) Cat Fish
Caught In Beaver Pond, Beaver Dam, Wis., (3) Cat Fish Caught in
River, Ripon, Wis, (4) Rock River Cat Fish, (5) Rock River Carp.
Johnson started overprinting his exaggeration postcards in white
ink starting with the RPPC. A Rock River Cat Fish can be found
overprinted with Cat Fish Caught in Horicon Marsh, Waupun, Wis.
An overprint on Rock River Carp said Caught in Horicon Marsh.
Horicon, Wis and another overprint on Rock River Carp said Caught in
Horicon, Burnett, Wis.
The Potatoes exaggeration RPPC can be found with, Crop of 1909
Raised at Waupun, Wis.; Crop of 1909 Raised at Beaver Dam, Wis..
The Onion card can be found with Crop of 1909 Raised at Ripon, Wis
and; Crop of 1909 Raised at Brandon, Wis. A Grapes card has Crop
from 1909 Raised at Ripon, Wis., The Load of Cabbage images can have
Raised at Markesan, Wis; Raised at Ripon, Wis; Raised at Waupun,
Wis.; Raised at Beaver Dam, Wis.
The Our Corn RPPC exaggeration can say, Crop of 1909 Raised at
Beaver Dam, Wis.; Crop of 1909 Raised at Waupun, Wis.; and Crop of
1909 Raised at Markesan, Wis.. Apples has been found to say Brandon
Wis or Waupun, Wis. The Digging Aspargus overprint is Waupun,
Wis. Two Hours Catch also has an overprint that says Waupun, Wis.
One Cutting Cabbage postcard has an overprint in white ink of At
Ripon, Wis.
The most popular of the RPPC exaggerations seems to be the one
called Loading Cabbages. It can be found with overprints that
include, Crop of 1909 Raised at Markesan, Wis.; Crop of 1909 Raised
at Ripon, Wis.; Crop of 1909 Raised at Beaver Dam, Wis.; or Crop of
1909 Raised at Horicon, Wis.
JOHNSON"S TWENTY-ONE REAL PHOTO POSTCARD (RPPC) EXAGGERATIONS --
LISTED BY TITLE
1.
Apples
2. Big Pike
3. Carp
Caught In Beaver Dam Pond
4. Cat Fish Caught
In Beaver Pond
5.
Cat Fish Caught In River
6.
Cutting Cabbage
7. Digging
Aspargus
8. Grapes
9.
How Is This
10. Load
Of Cabbages
11.
Loading Cabbage
12. Onion
13. Our Corn
14.
Pickerel
15.
Potatoes
16. Rock
River Carp Caught In Horicon Marsh
17. Rock River
Cat Fish Caught in Horicon Marsh
18. Some
Tomatoes
19. Sugar Beets
20. Two Hours
Catch
21. The Buck Fever
JOHNSON POST CARD WORKS ---
Most of the Johnson images were published as printed postcards,
not as RPPC's. One can find Johnson postcards with advertising
on the backside that says fifty-two freak post cards price list: 100
for $1.00; 200 for $2.25; 300 for $3.00 and 1,000 for $9.00.
Later Johnson postcards with advertising on the backside said
one-hundred designs, still the same price. The advertising said
'these cards can be printed with the words "How we do things at --
name of your town and state.'
Alfred Stanley Johnson Jr. from late 1909 through 1923 created,
published, and marketed nationwide more new exaggerated postcard
images than any other photographer, using more agricultural, hunting
and fishing and other images that any other photographer and
produced exaggerated postcards for a longer period of time, from
1909 through 1923, than any other photographer. The ability of a
local photo studio to transform itself into a major creator,
manufacturer, and nationwide sales distributor of postcards in such
a short period of time and to maintain this activity until 1913 is a
very interesting and outstanding story.
SEPTEMBER 1908, WILLIAM "DAD" MARTIN, OTTAWA, KANSAS - SEPTEMBER
1908 ---
To put Alfred Stanley Johnson, Jr. and his work into a time line
of outstanding creators and publishers of exaggeration images the
demarcation line for creators of exaggeration postcard images is
September, 1908. This is the month and year William "Dad"
Martin of Ottawa, Kansas published his first exaggeration real photo
postcards. Martin published around 60 RPPC images before he
stopped publishing postcards in late 1910.
Through Martin's friendship and close contacts with executives
in the huge, worldwide, Underwood and Underwood photograph company,
founded in Ottawa, Kansas, and businessmen in Ottawa,
Kansas, Martin's' postcards were quickly published and distributed
nationwide by the millions by the newly established North American
Post Card Company of Kansas City, Missouri. All of Martin's
postcards were published as RPPC. Photographers who created
exaggerated image postcards are considered pre-Martin, those who
started publishing before September, 1908, or post-Martin, those who
started publishing after September, 1908.
The golden age of exaggeration postcards was from 1907 through
1912. Most of the best images were created by local photo
studios mainly in the midwestern section of the United States...many
times in small towns like Ottawa, Kansas; Arkansas City, Kansas;
Hutchinson, Kansas; Meade, Kansas; Fergus Falls, Minnesota;
Alexandria, Minnesota; LeRoy, Minnesota, Vermillion, South
Dakota; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Centralia, Illinois; Lansing,
Iowa; Alton, Iowa; Boone, Iowa, Sarcoxie, Missouri; Table Rock,
Nebraska; Plattsmouth, Nebraska, Springdale, Arkansas; Rib Lake,
Wisconsin; and Superior, Wisconsin.
THANKS TO JOYCE M. TICE ---
Thanks to Joyce M. Tice for her outstanding work about Alfred
Stanley Johnson, Jr., for publishing the book, "How We Do Things" in
2013 and creating this website. Joyce has now documented over
200 Johnson exaggeration or humorous postcards. Additional
information about the Johnson Post Card Works can be found on this
website. Please contact Joyce and me if you have additional
information about Johnson and especially information about his early
and rare RPPC Exaggerations.
FOOTNOTE. Real Photo Postcards (RPPC)
are photographs that are reproduced by actually developing them onto
a photographic paper the size and style of postcards, with a
postcard back. There are millions of postcards that reproduce
photographs by a variety printing methods that are NOT considered
“real photos” by collectors today. The term, Real Photo
Postcard (RPPC), in the world of collectors, recognizes a real and
unique distinction between the real photo process and the
lithographic or offset printing processes used in the production of
most postcard images.
In 1907, Kodak introduced a service for real photo postcards
which enabled people to make a postcard from any photograph they
took. On March 1, 1907, U.S. legislation permitted postcards, for
the first time, to include a message on a portion of the back of a
postcard. Prior to that time, the address only was allowed on one
side while the other side could present a photo or artwork and
sometimes a black space where one could write a short message. The
front side now could accommodate a full-size real photograph. The
popularity of real photo postcards soared across the USA. The
postcard provided a huge, outstanding photographic image of America,
especially of rural America.
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JOHNSON RPPC's....By Morgan Williams