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 ?
C - PUBLISHERS page 2
Back to Page 1
Columbia Card Co. (1910-1913)
Portland, OR
Publisher of view-cards of Oregon in tinted collotype. These cards were printed in Germany.
Compagnie Alsacienne des Arts Photomecaniques (CAP)
See Alsation Photomechanical Arts Co.
Commercial Art Post Card Co. (1921-1933)
Brooklyn, NY
Published white border view-cards of Brooklyn and Queens, NY in tinted halftone.
Commercialchrome (1910-1920)
Cleveland, OH
Printer of tinted halftone view-cards, most depicting scenes from the American Mid-West.
Commercial Colortype Co. (1904-1922)
Chicago, IL
A publisher of holiday cards, national view-cards, and postcards depicting American Indians in tinted halftones.
Commercial Photo Art Co. (1910-1919)
New York, NY
A publisher of black & white view-cards depicting scenes from southern New York to Long Island.
The Co-Mo Company (1919-1928)
316 2nd South Avenue, Minneapolis, MN
The owner H.P. Montgomery published regional view-cards as tinted halftones and more unusually as real photo postcards.
Richard M. Cook (1905-1930)
Marblehead, MA
A local jeweler who published a large amount of postcards depicting the town of Marblehead, MA. While some of his cards tend to be nondescript, he published an exceptional series of boldly hand colored collotype cards in his early years that were manufactured in Germany. Many of these cards are characterized by diffuse image borders.
Alf Cooke & Sons 1872-
Leeds and London, Great Britain
A publisher and printer of various items including postcards. Many different artist drawn images could be ordered from them to be printed up as either posters, hand bills, or postcards. They manufactured many Valentines for the Woolworth five & dime stores. They are now owned by Bonar Imca.
H. Montague Cooper (1890’s-1915)
Taunton, Birmingham, and Lynton, England
A photographer that began his career by producing studio portraits and carte de visite. Later he began turning his images into real photo postcards and hand colored collotypes that were printed in Germany. His postcards usually depict towns and events, and he is noted for including many people in his compositions and sometimes even his own car.
Copp, Clark Publishing Co. Ltd. 1885-
Toronto, ON Canada
Hugh Scobie began this business in 1841 as a stationer. Soon afterwards he began publishing a newspaper, The British Colonist, and then went into bookbinding producing Canada’s first almanac. This business was eventually sold and went through a series of owners, mostly former employees, creating a number of name changes over the years. William W. Copp and Henry J. Clark finally purchased the company in 1869 and gave it its present name in 1885. While they began printing a wide range of lithographic materials including labels and games in addition to books, most of their postcards were made as hand colored collotypes. The business was destroyed by fire in 1904 but they rebuilt and continue to publish.
Corona (1920’s)
Paris, France
A publisher of many postcard nudes with blank backs. They may not have been photographers at all but a reprinting company that reproduced the work of a number of other well known photographers all under the Corona name.
Cory Post Card Co. (1900-1912)
New York, NY
An early publisher of souvenir view-cards depicting New York City in tinted halftone. These cards were printed in the United States.
Edmund Neale Coverly (1920’s)
Grand Turk, Turks Islands, British West Indies
A publisher of fine lithographic view-cards that were printed in Saxony.
Cramers Kunstanst (1904-1940)
Dortmund, Germany
A fine arts book publisher that also produced postcards ranging from early Gruss aus to black & white and sepia collotypes, some of which were hand colored.
Crandell’s Studio 1921-1959
Jackson Lake lodge, WY
Sold the photographs and real photo postcards of the landscape artist Harrison Crandell, better known as Hank. In 1924 he became a homesteader at Jenny Lake but was forced to move in 1929 when the area became part of Grand Teton National Park. Although he spent a number of years in Boise, Idaho in order to send his children to school, most of his work was centered around the Grand Tetons. Crandell produced a wide range of work. In addition to his landscapes and panoramas he shot many studio portraits, especially of tourists posed in Western garb. He also produced a number of painted scenes of the area as well.
Crescent Embossing Co. (1896-)
Plainfield, NJ
This paper goods firm was founded in 1896 by Fred C. Lounsbury, a novelty salesman. Beginning in 1907 they began to publish lithographic artist signed postcards with embossing, usually issued in untypical small sets of four. C. Bunnell was one of their best known artists who illustrated many of their patriotic cards for which the company was best known, The images on many of these cards were copyrighted under Lounsbury’s name and not the artist. They also published many advertising cards for other companies.
H. S. Crocker Co., Inc. 1856-
San Francisco, CA
An early lithographer that made many different types of printed products. They produced a number of view-cards of the San Francisco area. The Disney Company contracted out many of their postcards to them. Crocker became the first company to use offset lithography in the printing of photochromes under the trade name Mirro-Krome. They are now known as Lawson Mardon Post Card with a separate printing division called Mirro Koat Products.
Cross & Dimmitt 1916-1940
Portland, OR
Photographers Arthur B. Cross and Edward L Demmitt published real photo postcards depicting scenes of and around the Columbia River. They initially sold their cards as a set of twenty images, then eventually added individual cards to their inventory. In their latter years many of the Western images they captured were reproduced lithographically and often hand colored.
Cuba Railroad Co. 1902-1959
Havana, Cuba
This U.S. owned corporation not only ran freight and passenger rail service but did much to promote the colonization of Cuba by Americans along its routes through land companies. In this process they produced pamphlets that guarantied the safety of American investments and hinted at eventual annexation of Cuba to the United States while also publishing many postcards that depicted the attractive countryside. The Detroit Publishing Company printed a set of 50 postcards for them, but their name does not appear on these cards. Though there titles on the front are in English they have a typical Spanish back. Starting in 1940 the railroad was plagued by fuel shortages that led to much of its service being replaced by buses. In 1959 it was seized and incorporated into the Nationalized Railway Company.
V.B. Cumbo (1905-1911)
Gibraltar
One of the larger publishers of souvenir photo booklets and tinted collotype view-cards depicting Gibraltar.
Cunard Steamships, Ltd. 1840-2005
Liverpool, England
Founded in 1838 by Samuel Cunard and associates as the British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. Despite heavy competition Cunard grew to become a major steamship line at the turn of the 20th century due to its reputation of reliability and safety. They published a great deal of posters and postcards to promote their Line. Many cards were just matter of fact depictions of their ships produced in a variety of manner from lithography to real photo cards. Their most interesting cards however were those that were artist drawn showing ships in various harbors. Perhaps their most famous ship was the ill fated Lusitania, whose sinking in World War One generated a number of propaganda postcards by other publishers. After acquiring other steamship lines Cunard itself was purchased by Carnival Corporation in 1998, which ended their name by 2005.
Samuel Cupples Envelope Co. (1851-)
St. Louis, MO
This envelope manufacturing company was the first to utilize wood pulp. They produced many patriotic covers and entered the postcard business early enough to make cards of the Spanish American War. They publishes the official card set for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904. They are also noted for their many hold to light cards. When Cupples died in 1912 this was the largest envelope manufacturer in the United States.
Curhan Co. (1961-)
Gloucester, MA
Edward C. Curhan’s printing company produced a number of lithographic postcards depicting the scenery north of Boston and especially of Cape Ann. They produced a series of maritime artist signed cards under the trade name Lith o Sketch that were drawn with the aid of shading mediums. Some of these cards were hand colored. Their cards were manufactured in the United States. They later became Curhan Printing Ltd.
A. P. Curtin (1890’s-1928)
Helena, MT
A department store from which they sold the postcards that they published of local views. The first cards they made were issued as Private Cards printed as tinted halftones. The sore was destroyed by the fire that swept through town in 1928.
Asahel Curtis Photo Co. 1911-1941
Tacoma, WA
Asahel first began working at the photo studio of his brother, Edward Sheriff Curtis, which opened in 1894. Both Asahel and Edward began their careers by photographing Native Americans but in 1897 Ashhel went off to photograph the Yukon. After disputes concerning photo credits, Asahel left to form his own company in 1911. He produced over 60,000 images of Washington State and Alaska, many of which took the form of real photo postcards. He is especially known for his work around Mt. Rainier. Asahel became a strong promoter of tourism, which put him at odds with many of the environmentalists he initially worked with.
Curtis Publishing Co. 1891-
Philadelphia, PA
Cyrus Curtis had already been a publisher in Boston since 1872 when he moved to Philadelphia in 1876. He started a new publishing empire with the purchase of the Ladies Home Journal in 1883. By 1891 he unified his various interests into the Curtis Publishing Company eventually publishing other magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post. By the turn of the 20th century they had become the largest publishing house in the United States. While they licensed out many of the images drawn for their covers by well known illustrators, they also produced a set of postcards depicting the various stages of magazine production at their facilities. Though they began to experience financial difficulties in 1968, which led to the closure of their best known publications, they continue to publish magazines.
Curt Teich Co. 1893-1974
Chicago, IL
A major publisher and printer. Their U.S. factories turned out more cards in quantity than any other printer. They published a wide range of national view-cards of America and Canada. Many consider them one of the finest producers of White Border Cards. The Linen Type postcard came about through their innovations as they pioneered the use of offset lithography. They were purchased by Regensteiner Publishers in 1974 which continued to print cards at the Chicago plant until 1978.
While the Curt Teich Company is largely known for manufacturing tinted halftone postcards in the United States, a number of their early cards were printed in Germany as tinted collotypes.
1900-1908 Cards numbered 1 to 14989
1905-1926 Published a wide variety of card types in various printing methods. Some have a C prefix.
Curt Teich Sky-tint halftones.
1908-1928 Cards numbered A or R 1 to 124180. The cards they printed for Woolworth have a W prefix. The letter N prefix was used to designate a reprinted image from this series.
RD Curt Teich Doubletone.
AQ These tinted halftones cards issued under the name C.T. Aquarelle were made to imitated the look of hand coloring.
1912-1925 Cards numbered 1 to 14804 with a two letter prefix. These cards were printed in many different ways. The series letters were A, O, R, W are followed by a variety of other letters to designate these printing methods. RC denoting C.T. Colorchrome is the most common.
DT Curt Teich Duotone
1929-1978 Cards numbered D1 to 20363 These numbers include other printed material.
D Curt Teich Photo-Varicolor
The color on these cards were produced through shading mediums and overprinted with a black halftone.
1929-1930 The year on these tinted halftones was incorporated into their number, 1-29 to 2934-30.
After 1930 card numbers began with a number corresponding to the last digit of the year it was published in followed by a letter series denoting the decade.
1930’s A and AH prefix All cards with an H onwards designate Art Colortone..
1940’s B, BH, and BK prefix All cards with a K onwards were printed as photochromes.
Starting in the mid 1930’s though the 1940’s the C.T. Photo-Platin card was produced. These were greenish blue monochromes produced with shading mediums, which gives them a stylish but stiff appearance. This technique was also used for souvenirs and other promotional materials they printed.
1950’s C, CH, CK, and CP prefix. The cards with a CP were printed as photochromes under the name Curteichcolor 3-D Natural Color.
1960’s DK prefix.
1970-1978 EK prefix.
1974-1978 ED prefix These cards were printed in continental size.
Series B, E, K Miniature postcards.
Series H Contract cards for Fred Harvey.
Series L Contract cards for Hugh C. Leighton.
Cynicus Publishing Co. 1902-1916
Tayport, Scottland
Martin Anderson began his career by illustrating satyrical books during the 1880’s. In 1898 he began working for Blum & Degan where designed court sized postcards. By 1902 Anderson decided to form his own company and began placing some of his satyrical cartoons on lithographic postcards signed under the pseudonym Cynicus. While these cards were primarily designed for local seaside tourists he also published Christmas cards and view-cards, some of which were generics. All his cards were artist drawn and some of these were created by other illustrators such as James Douglas. In 1911 his firm began to fail and he tried to restart it in Leeds with only minor success. He moved again in 1914 to Edinburgh but only managed to publish a handful of postcards there before closing for good.
Czechoslovak Legions 1914-1920
At the outbreak of the First World War the many Czechs who had emigrated to Russia petitioned the Czar to form their own national unit and in 1914 the first Cheshskaya Druzhina was established. As the war progressed these legions swelled with Czech deserters and prisoners of war who switched sides until their numbers approached 70,000. Such a large body on non-Russia speakers required their own field post correspondence cards and regular postcards in tinted halftone were published as well. When Russia ceased fighting the Central Powers after the Revolution the Bolshiviks began sending the Czech Legions (Ceskoslovenske Legie) across Siberia to Vladistovok for eventual transport to the Western Front where they could continue to fight. Germany however demanded their arrest resulting in a number of confrontations and an eventual uprising. The Czech Legion formed their own Republic in Siberia with its own postal system and published more postcards. These cards are not political but capture artist drawn views and scenes from ordinary life. The Legions remained in Siberia after World War One ended to help support the White army under Admiral Kolchak fighting the Reds. Meanwhile the newly formed Czechoslovakian Republic, at odds over territorial claims with Poland and Hungry wanted them to return, and by 1920 they had turned Kolchak over to the Reds and left for home.
Other Czechs units were formed in the West to fight in France. When the United States entered the War a Czechoslovak recruitment office opened and in 1918 Vojtech Preissig produced a number of patriotic posters supporting this effort that were turned into a series of postcards printed by the Wentworth Institute in Boston. There are a number of variations to these cards with the same image used in conjunction with different text messages printed beneath them. They were produced with a heavy use of shading mediums. Czech units were also formed in Italy but mostly out of former prisoners of war.
