Introduction by Joyce M. Tice
As hoped, getting the book out put
me in touch with other collectors who had cards I did not, and who
knew about aspects of Johnson’s craft that I did not at that time. I
call these people my Johnson friends. Among them is Mary Ritchie of
Wisconsin, an ebay seller from whom I had purchased cards and who
became my scout on the ground in Wisconsin. She scoured the shops
and unearthed treasures that I might not otherwise have, including
at least one very rare example.
Morgan Williams has been collecting
exaggeration humor since 1980 and has cards that few of us have or
have even heard of. He has been generous in sharing his extensive
collection of cards and his knowledge. Paula King is a fellow
collector who has never failed to let me know when she finds a new
card and who shares it with me if it is not in my
own
collection.
Rick Fletcher of Waupun grew up in
the Fletcher Studio, formerly the Johnson Studio, and had stories to
tell about the Johnson family and their work.
Tracie Nichols and her husband, Steve Biever, of the Waupun Historical Society shared
information and photos to add to our body of Johnson’s work.
Since Johnson copyright registered
all of his
exaggeration
humor titles except the 1908 Welcome Home series, we have
been able to compile what we believe to be a complete list of his
humor cards whether we have an example or not. The number now stands
at 216 registered titles, a huge increase over the 138 of the first
edition of the book. There are eight registered titles
for which we do not have an image in any of the collections shared
here. That inspires our quest to continue hunting. The stated
purpose of the first edition was to find out just how many cards
would constitute a complete collection, and we have done that, at
least as far as unique titles go. Nothing is ever as simple as it
might be, and the complexity of RPPC vs printed versions and
alternate overprints adds another dimension to that.
In expanding our collective
knowledge of Johnson’s work, and thanks primarily to the Morgan
Williams' collection, we discovered that
there is more to it than just the “How We Do Things” series with
occasional variant titles.
These include the unregistered
Homecoming
series of 1908 and
the RPPC
Crop
of 1909 series that served
as Johnson’s test market in the towns around Waupun. Most of the
original cards in the Crop of 1909 series were continued under the
How We Do Things motto and survive to this day by the thousands.
They were reprinted over a period of years and marketed throughout
the country. We’re very glad his test series worked out and he went
on to produce a body of work that entertains us to this day. It has
been a voyage of discovery as we Johnson collectors hunt them down.
Bigger, Better, Bolder Than Life
Our Goal: Find Them All
The Old Boys Are Coming Home 1908