A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z ?

B - PUBLISHERS    page 2

Boston & Maine Railroad   1842-1983
Boston, MA

This company grew out of a merger of a number of railroads, and they continued to acquire other rail companies to become the major line of the Northeast with branches running to Troy, New York and Montreal. They began publishing lithographic cards for their customers soon after the postcard was introduced. Some of these were printed as contract cards by the Detroit Publishing Company. Between 1907 and 1913 they were taken over by J.P. Morgan’s New York New Haven & Hartford Railroad until anti-trust laws broke them up. But by 1916 the company was loosing business to the automobile and their publishing of postcards were curtailed. By 1965 they ended all passenger service except for commuter trains to Boston. They were purchased by Guilford Transportation Industries in 1983.

Boston Post Card   (1906-1910)
12 Pearl Street, Boston, MA

A publisher of New England view-cards in color and black & white halftone lithography. Many of their cards were poorly hand colored.

They also published a very unique monochrome series of Boston in gravure. While printing in gravure can produce very fine results, these cards are characterized by a soft focus that creates much mood similar to mezzotints.

Boulder Dam Service Bureau   1933-
Boulder City, NV

Founded by the Earl Brothers as a souvenir shop over the Boulder City theater. They began by published local linen view-cards mostly depicting the dams and lakes on the Colorado River. Their cards were printed by Curt Teich.

A. Bourdier   (1896-1912)
Versailles, France

A publisher of heliotype view-cards, historical scenes, and souvenir view-books, some hand colored. While some cards depicted diverse areas such as Palestine, most were scenes of Versailles and Fontainebleau. It is likely that Bourdier was the photographer of these images.

Bourne & Shepard   1862-
Calcutta, India

Samuel Bourne and Charles Shepard were early photographers of Indian views. Many of their images were used to illustrate books. Though both had left India in the 1870’s the studio they left behind continued to run under local proprietorship. They eventually began to publish hand colored collotype postcards based on their great inventory of photographs.

Lorimer E. Brackett   (1928-1971)
Monhegan Island, ME

A photographer who published 1800 real photo postcards views of Monhegan Island in three sets. The first set of 300 is a bleed with titles on the back. The second set consists of 300 new images and 300 reprints of the first set, all bleeds with titles within the image on the front. The third set is of 300 new images and 600 reprints of the first and second sets, all with borders and titles on printed them. Brackett published additional cards of regional scenes, especially around the village of New Harbor.

Carlos Brandt   (1903-1909)
Valparaiso, Chile

A photographer who published many of his images as printed postcards. These view-cards were printed as black & white collotypes some of which are hand colored.

Gottlieb Braun   1813-
Karlsruhe, Baden

An early book publisher who began producing postcards when they became popular. By 1953 the company began to concentrate on publishing directories and phone books.

Braun Post Card Co.   (1910-1924)
Cleveland, OH

A publisher of lithographic regional view-cards of the Cleveland area.

Fotografia Artistica Hugo Brehme   1905-1954
Avenida Cinco de Mayo, Mexico City, Mexico

The photographer Hugo Brehme left Germany in 1905 to set up a studio in Mexico City. He became well known for his views of Mexico, the bulk of which he published as black & white and sepia real photo postcards. Though oriented toward tourists his work retains high artistry. He was noted to have created the first photo Christmas cards in Mexico. During the First World War when the flow of printed cards were cut off from Germany his real photo cards gained in popularity. After the War Brehme began publishing some of his images as printed booklets and individual cards, but most of these were manufactured on poor quality paper. It is not always easy to identify Brehme cards for they were produced on a variety of photo paper types and not all are attributed. Many of his images were later reproduced on modern photochomes by other companies. His son Arno Brehme, a color photographer closed his fathers postcard business when he died in 1954 and went on to open a major advertising firm.

Fred Bremner   1876-1940
Karachi, India (Pakistan)

Bremmer began working in his father’s photo studio at the age of thirteen. In 1883 he began traveling between Afganistan, India, and what is now Pakistan, until his return to England in 1923. Bremner’s photographs were used to illustrate a number of books, and he also used them to publish many postcards printed in continuous tone black & white. While he issued holiday and greeting cards from Karachi, other cities in which he maintained studios are listed on the back of his view-cards as the place of publication.

Brett Litho Co.   (1850-1928)
Fulton Street, New York, NY

An early pioneer of chromolithography. They printed fine art prints and many trade cards before they began manufacturing postcards.

Vern Brickley   (1912-1945)
Fairbanks, AK

A photographer of Alaskan scenes. He accompanied the National Geographic expedition to photograph the eruption of Katmai in 1912. Eventually Brickley purchased a postcard business and began publishing his own work as real photo postcards. Between 1941 and 1945 he worked as an official U.S. Army photographer and documented the campaign for the Aleutian Islands, notably the battles for Attu and Kiska. Many of these images were also turned into postcards. Brickley produced about 12,000 photographs during his career.

W.G. Brigs & Co., Ltd.   (1930’s)
London, England

A printer and publisher of books and lithographic view-cards. They supplied cards that were distributed by the Southern Railway.

Abel Briquet   1870’s-1911
Mexico City, Mexico

Sometime in the 1870’s Briquet left his Paris studio that he opened twenty years earlier to move to Mexico where he soon received commissions to photograph the Mexican National Railway and later the port of Veracruz. While he started off like other photographers that concentrated on traditional scenery and landmarks, Briquet would go on to capture a landscape in transition as Mexico modernized. Many of these images would eventually be turned into real photo postcards that were sold from shops catering to tourists.

Britton & Rey Lithographers   (1902-1922)
San Francisco, CA

Important printers and Publishers of lithographic products and regional view-cards of the San Francisco area. They also produced many early exposition cards. Although Joseph Britton was one of the first to arrived in California seeking gold he met with little success. He was forced to fall back on his old profession and he set up a lithography shop along with the artist Jacques Joseph Rey in 1852. Rey married Britton’s sister and their son Valentine ran the company after their deaths. Most of the postcards they produced were drawn by Joseph Rey. All the early company records were lost in the earthquake of 1906.

Minnehaha Etheridge Brooke   1907-1913
Chevy Chase, MD

Minnie Brooke, a prominent supporter of woman’s suffrage was also an entrepreneur. She ran the Brook Farm Tea House and The Brooke Shop on 15th Street NW in Washington, DC from where she sold souvenirs and postcards. For seven years she published her own postcards that were printed in black & white, monotones, and color lithography. These German made cards depicted scenes in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. There is some speculation that the images on these cards are based on Brooke’s own photos but this has not been ascertained.

Brooklyn Art Publishing Co.   (1914-1917)
New York, NY

A publisher of New York City view-cards in halftone lithography. They seem to have a relation to the Brooklyn Post Card Co.

Brooklyn Post Card Co.   (1914-1917)
New York, NY

A publisher of view-cards depicting New York and New Jersey in halftone lithography. This company seems to be a later operator of Brooklyn Art Publishing.

Brooklyn Eagle   1905-1907
Brooklyn, NY

A local newspaper and postcard publisher. Coupons redeemable for six postcards were issued every week between 1905 and 1907 until 81 sets were made. Additional sets of 24 drawn views of historic scenes was also published as well as portraits of actors and actresses of the stage. While these cards suffer in quality being printed in black & white newspaper grade halftones, they have remained in demand because of the many obscur views they captured.

Heinrich & August Bruning   (1898-1905)
Hanau, Germany

A publisher of chromolithographic postcards of views, holidays, and military themes.

La Broderie Illustree   (1899-1935)
Paris, France

This weekly women’s magazine (Embroidery Illustrated) published by Edouard Boucherit was a journal illustrating embroidery and lace making patters for artistic and practical uses. They soon began to create black & white lithographic postcards with hand coloring that they added to their publication as a supplement to increase sales.

Brouwer & Co.   (1914-)
Bruges, Belgium

A book publisher who also produced many fine artist signed postcards. They were printed in continuous tone lithography in a limited but unpredictable pallet.

Brown & Bigelow, Inc.   1896-
St. Paul, MN

A major printer of lithographic promotional products. Though they have printed a wide range of products they are best known for their illustrated calendars. They printed a great many Mutoscope arcade cards of pinups, and postcards as well. They continued to use high quality continuous tone lithography to print their postcards long after many others were using cheaper halftone methods.

The companies commitment to high quality printing continued in later years with its Talio-Chromes. This color gravure method produced finely printed images similar to that achieved by photochomes only with RGB colors and a matt finish. This process was used on postcards as well as other printed material.

Brown & Rawcliffe, Ltd.   (1903-1907)
Liverpool, England

A publisher of lithographic postcards. These included views of England issued in the Camera Series and the Camera & Manx Camera Series with a propensity for large scottish tartan patterned borders and heraldry. Artist signed cards reproducing watercolors, and humor cards were also produced. Their cards were manufactured in Great Britain.

Brown Brothers   1904-
New York, NY

The first stock photo agency. They supplied many photographs to newspapers, magazines, and for the production of postcards. They also produced a large number of color autochromes during the First World War that were turned into postcards by the Osborne Company. Moved to Sterling, PA in 1972.

Lewis W. Brown   (1906-1919)
Englewood, NJ

This pharmacist published black & white and monotone view-cards of local scenes.

Bruck & Sohn   1793-
Meissen, Saxony

An important art publishing firm. They were an early producer of continuous tone lithographic postcards. They still publish postcards.

F. Bruckmann AG   1858-
Munich, Germany

A major printing and publishing house founded in Frankfurt by Friedrich Bruckmann, a classical art scholar. In addition to high quality picture books they produced maps, calendars, brochures, and postcards. Their postcards covered many topics from artist signed to propaganda printed in both lithography and photogravure. They are well known for their Alpine scenes and outdoor literature. In 1930 they began publishing Mountain Climber magazine.

Brunner & Co   (1910-1930)
Como, Italy

An important publisher of view-cards depicting scenes of Italy. The cards are individually numbered with many showing a series number as well. Many cards were issued as brightly colored lithographs or in a simple Red, Green, and Yellow pallet both with white borders. Other lithographic cards along with very finely hand colored views were issued as bleeds. Brunner opened an office in Zurich, Switzerland where most of these cards were printed.

Brunner also published large sets of generic landscapes in the 1920’s. They are either printed in a dark but bright blue monotone or in black & white with strong yellow-orange highlights. These scenes tend to be dark with dramatic lighting effects.

Bryant Union Co.   (1904-1912)
New York, NY

Published postcards on many historical topics and view-cards of New York. They used a variety of printers including E.C. Kropp.

Dr. Charles H. Buck   1902-1919
Broadway, Kings Bridge, NY

A small local publisher of view-cards depicting the Bronx and northern Manhattan in halftone lithographic monochromes. Many of these views are very rare.

Eduard Buettner & Co. (E.B.&Co.)   1880-1908
Berlin, Germany

A printer and publisher of playing cards and postcards of greetings and humor. Many of his cards were directed towards an American audience. His early cards were printed in chromolithography but in later years he switched to halftone lithography with a simple pallet. Buettner gave up postcard production in 1906 to concentrate on playing cards. In 1908 the company was sold to Voreinigte Stualsunder Spielkartenfabriken AG. Only the letters E.B. & Co. appear on their cards.

Buffalo News Co.   (1905-)
Buffalo, New York

A publisher and distributor of printed materials including regional postcards. They were an agent for the American News Company for much of their history.

J.H. Bufford’s Sons Litho. Co.   (1865-1900’s)
Boston, MA and New York, NY

Since 1836 John Bufford was producing sheet music covers and prints of city views from his own printshop in New York. He had begun his career in 1829 as an apprentice at the shop of William and John Pendleton, Boston’s first commercial lithographers, and returned there in 1840 with his brother-in-law B.W. Thayer to buy them out. After managing the firm for ten years Bufford left to start his own company and in 1865 his two sons Frank and Henry John became partners. They began producing large numbers of chromolithographed prints, posters, and trade cards. Winslow Homer was just one of the many talented artists who worked for them. After John’s death in 1870 his sons continued to operate the company with Frank managing the New York office. By the 1880’s they were printing advertising and souvenir cards.

Bunney’s Ltd.   (1905-1921)
Mostyn Street, Llandudno and Liverpool, England

Stationers and publishers of view-cards. While some cards have a high glossy finish, others are dry and matt in appearance with simple crude coloring.

Alfred. S. Burbank   1872-1932
Plymouth, MA

Operated the Pilgrim Bookshop and published view-cards depicting the Plymouth area since the pioneer era. A large drawing of Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower appear on some card backs. He is noted for the many historical scenes and views contracted out with the Detroit Publishing Co. He also published a large series of cards of the Plymouth area on deep varicolored monochromes.

Hal J. Burrowes Postcard Co.   1920-1952
Portland, ME

A photographer of the Maine coast and ships that sailed its waters. He published many postcards of his photographic images as collotypes. No retouching work was added to his skies and they often appear blank. He also produced hand colored real photos, souvenirs, and calendars. Burrowes bought out the negatives of the Fred Thompson Art Co. in 1923, which in turn had acquired the negatives of the Lamson Studios in 1905, which he published under his own company name.

Philipp Bussemer   (1900-)
Baden-Baden, Germany

A Haberdasher by trade, Bussemer continually devoted more time to pursuits revolving around the Black Forest. He helped blaze the first long distance trail across the region and opened the areas first tourist center. He became an important local publisher of maps, guide books, and postcards printed in continuous tone lithography.

Butterich Publishing Co.   1864-2001
192 Broadway, New York, NY

This firm was the first to create graded sewing patters but their interest in fashion did not rest exclusively with this popular product. They went on to publish 67 different magazines, most notably the Ladies Quarterly of Broadway Fashions, the Metropolitan, and The Delineator. When they opened their new factory on Spring Street in 1903 they had become this country’s largest private printer. They began publishing postcards as well for publicity. In 2001 they were bought out by the McCall Pattern Company.

Buxton & Skinner   (1884-1931)
St. Louis, MO

A printer of a number of different chromolithographic products including maps and postcards.