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 ?
P - PUBLISHERS page 2
page 1
Photoglob Co. 1895-
Zurich, Switzerland
A subsidiary of Orell Fussli Holding AG, and a major publisher of international view-cards and other pictorial material. Known as printer of high standing that utilized a number of different printing methods. They were an early producer of Gruss aus cards. While some of these cards lacked a diverse pallet they contained elaborate graphic design work.
Photoglob is best known for the photochrom process, which they sparingly licensed out. The cards printed by this method are often characterized by a very large and vibrant pallet. A great many of these cards depict views of the Alps extending well beyond the Swiss border but they were not confined to this region alone. Many other cards are of generic views from broad panoramas to small intimate landscapes depicting the ordinary. Their prints were distributed by the Detroit Publishing Company in the United States.
Though Photoglob is best recognized for their brightly colored postcards, they also produced many views in in delicate monotone photogravure, and also as real photo postcards. These cards were also manufactured in Switzerland.
In addition to their many view-cards, Photoglob also produced a number of artist signed postcards. These cards often revolved around local traditions and narratives.
Photo-Type Post Card Co. (1908)
3946 Market, Philadelphia, PA
A photo engraving company that produced postcards using a photo-gelatin process with a high gloss finish. Some of their cards can almost be mistaken for photographs.
Pictoral Card Co.
80 West 40th Street, New York, NY
Published view-cards of New York City in black & white, sepia gravure, and halftone lithography.
Pictorial Stationary Co., Ltd. 1897-1914
23 Moorfields, London, England
A publisher of postcards and other lithographic printed materials. Once they began printing standard sized cards in 1902 they were issued under a variety of different trade names. Their Autochrom series were of halftones printed in RGB colors. Other types of cards included Pictorcrom, Black Frame, Stylochrom, Platino Photo, and Platino-Frosted. Most of these cards depicted views with some of them being artist drawn. These cards were printed in Leipzig, Saxony.
Pillsbury’s Pictures, Inc. 1906-1946
Oakland, CA
Photographer Arthur Clarence Pillsbury began his career in 1887 after inventing an early version of the Cirkut Camera. He used this panoramic camera to photograph the Yukon in 1900. Between 1906 and 1927 he divided his time spending half the year in his Oakland shop and the rest at his new Studio of the Three Arrows in Yosemite National Park. It was there he began publishing real photo postcards and became the largest distributor of photo views, selling an average of 5,000 per day in season. One of the photo techniques he worked in was orotone, and many postcards were made to simulate the same golden effects. Pillsbury shot a great many images of San Francisco and the aftermath of that city’s earthquake in 1906. He also captured other subjects such as the Great White Fleet and Native Americans. He is responsible for many technical innovations including the invention of the time lapse camera and X-ray motion pictures.
Stanley A. Piltz Co. (1930’s-1950’s)
San Francisco, CA
A photographer who published many linen view-cards depicting scenes of California, especially of the San Francisco Bay area. Some of these cards are labeled Pictorial Wonderland, Art Tone Series on the back. Curt Teich printed most of these cards for Piltz.
Emil Pinkau & Co. (1880-1926)
Breslau and Leipzig, Saxony
A printer of books, maps, pictorial souvenir booklets, and postcards in lithography. His earliest work was in monochrome but he started printing in color about 1897. In 1895 he started publishing a large set of postcards depicting the Ottoman Empire for Max Fruhtermann. Pinkau also printed cards for American publishers such as the Illustrated Post Card Company.
Plante (1906-1910)
Catinat Street, Saigon, French Indo-China (Vietnam)
A photographer who was one of the first to sell lithographic and hand colored postcard images of Vietnam from his shop in Saigon. Plante received recognition after his work was included in the Colonial Fair in Marseilles, France.
Plate Co., Ltd. 1890-
267 Kolluptiya, Columbo, Sri Lanka
Husband and wife Photographers A.W.A. and Clara Plate set up a photo studio in Columbo’s Bristol Hotel in 1890. From there they produced their photographs and had many of these images printed in souvenir books and as postcards. After opening branches in Nuwara, Eliya, and Kandy, they became the leading supplier of postcards from this Country. They produced high quality view-cards of local scenes as monochrome collotypes and color lithographic halftones.
They also published a series of artist signed cards under the name Plâté’s “Art” Post Card. More than just scenery these cards tried to project an exotic flavor of the landscape and the activities within it.
The Platinachrome Co. 1906-1907
23 Duane Street, New York, NY
Published postcards in halftone lithography including many ethnic street scenes of New York City. These cards were printed in the United States.
E. Polack-Schneider (1910)
Lima, Peru
Important publishers of regional view-cards from both Bolivia and Peru. Many of their scenes capture the remains of the Inca Empire. The photographer G. Morganroth supplied many of the images used for these cards.
Portland Post Card Co. (1908-1916)
Portland, OR and Seattle, WA
Published many view-cards of scenes from the American West coast including Alaska. They were the official publisher of postcards for the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in 1909.
Post Card & Greeting Card Co. Ltd. (1920’s-1935)
Toronto, ON Canada
A publisher of postcards and greeting cards printed in color with an open lithographic halftone. These cards were manufactured in Canada.
Post Card Distributing Co. (1911-1919)
Philadelphia, PA
A publisher and distributor of halftone lithographic postcards depicting regional scenes.
Post Card Exchange Publishers (1910-1915)
Birmingham, AL
A publisher of postcards and greeting cards printed in color with an open lithographic halftone.
Louis Prang & Co. 1860-1892
Boston, MA
The most important printer and publisher of chromolithographic prints in 19th century America. Prang left Prang & Mayer in 1860 to start his own printing business. He became well known through the 800 or so different art prints he reproduced and sold. His emphasis on tonal qualities over line work gave his prints a distinct look. In 1875 he became the first to publish Christmas cards in the United States and continued to do so until 1890. While these greetings were not actual postcards many were of a similar size and they were often sent through the mail as such. Prang merged with the Taber Company in 1892.
A. M. Prentiss (1915-1943)
Portland, OR
A photographer of the Pacific Northwest. Prentiss had worked for the Union Pacific Railroad and was an early founding member of the Trails Club of Oregon. Many of his photographs were used by other publishers to create printed view-cards.
John Price & Sons 1830’s-
Billston, England
Price was a writer who leaned how to print his own books. This ability led him to begin publishing the work of others, a tradition carried on by his sons by mid century. As they began producing continuous tone lithographic postcards of local views they also started printing cards for other publishers.
Thomas Pringle & Co. (1905-1907)
Wellington, New Zealand
Pringle was a photographer noted for his images of the Maori. These pictures were produced as carbon prints and also made into continuous tone lithographic postcards under the G. & G. Series name.
Provincetown Advocate (1869-2000)
Commercial Street, Provincetown, MA
A local newspaper that distributed a great amount of view-cards depicting tourist populated Provincetown and the surrounding environs of outer Cape Cod. Many postcards by H. A Dickerman, Metropolitan News, Rotograph, and Valentine & Sons among others were sold directly out of their Provincetown office. The newspaper once provided weekly announcements of eagerly awaited new postcard arrivals. The Paper merged into the Provincetown Banner in 2000.
Prudential Insurance Company of America 1875-
Newark, NJ
Founded by John F. Dryden to provide burial insurance they quickly expanded into a larger more encompassing firm. They were strong on marketing their product and saw the potential in using postcards very early on. Cards were made depicting their various offices as well as general scenery across the Country all with some advertising on their backs, and were given away in promotions. Today postcards are still made available to their agents and they have begun promoting eCards over the Internet as well.
The Public Ledger
1836-1942
Philadelphia, PA
A local newspaper with a history of embracing innovation. They were early users of the Pony Express, the telegraph, and rotary presses. After being purchased by the New York Times in 1902 they began distributing postcards with their Sunday paper. These newspaper cards largely depicted local views. The Leger became one of the Cyrus Curtis papers in 1913.
E.D. Putnam & Sons (1930-1945)
Antrim, NH
Photographers who published both printed and real photo cards of national views.
Puget Sound News Co. (1887-)
621 2nd Avenue, Seattle, WA
A publisher and distributor of local postcards for the American News Company.
George Pulman & Sons Ltd. (1902-1949)
London, England
A bookseller who printed and published many lithographic postcards in sets, particularly during World War One. These included a set on military terms and cartoons, plus artist signed political cards by the Dutch artist Raemaeker.
Purger & Co. (1907-1920)
Munich, Bavaria
A publisher of European view-cards in continuous tone color lithography. Cards made in this specific technique are usually referred to as Poly-Chromes but this term only appears on the backs of American views.
