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 ?

U - PUBLISHERS

Ullman Mfg. Co.   1905-1915
338 East 59th Street, New York, NY

They began as publishers of lithographic novelties and prints going on to publish a very wide variety of postcards and greeting cards. Noted for their Gold Border series.

Ullman’s cards tended to be finely printed on heavy stock paper an they had difficulty competing in price with other publishers. To solve this problem they issued a cheaper series of cards between 1907 and 1910 numbered 501 to 599 that sold for no more than a penny. These cards were largely artist signed greetings.

Irving Underhill   1903-1960
17 Park Place, New York, NY

A photographer of New York City. He became a leading contibutor of images for many different postcard publishers. His name and copyright usually appears on these cards.

Underwood & Underwood   1882-1920
New York, NY

Founded by photographers Elmer and Burt Underwood in Ottawa, Kansas. They would move their main office to New York City in 1897 and later open branches in Toronto, Canada and London, England. They published almost 40,000 stereo-view titles, most of which were issued in boxed sets. In 1910 they began supplying news photos for newspapers and postcard publishers, though they also published cards under their own name. Their stereo-views, viewers, and postcards often have their Sun Sculpture Works & Studio logo on them. The firm was sold to the Keystone View Company in 1921.

Union News Co.   (1908-1969)
New York, NY

As a wholly owned subsidiary of the American News Company they became major distributors of postcards and other printed items through their newsstands at hotels, rail and subway stations. Their cards were published by a variety of different companies including American News, Curt Teich, Robbins Brothers, and Valentine & Sons. Sometimes only their logo appears on a card, but it is often hand stamped on cards not originally published for them.

Union Oil Co. of California   1890-
Los Angeles, CA

They began publishing postcards during the Panama Pacific Exposition in 1915, but they are best known as the first publisher of photochrome postcards. These cards were views of Western scenes and given away at their Union 76 filling stations whenever gas or oil was purchased. The first set of 85 numbered cards was printed in 1939 in San Francisco, and in the following two years 119 additional cards were produced. Because of wartime gas rationing postcard production ended in 1941 but was resumed again in 1947 with the production of 108 new numbered and dated cards. The 196 cards printed in 1949 carried neither number or date. They stopped printing cards again the following year only to resume again in 1950 with reprints of many early cards. The prewar cards by Union Oil are the rarest for postcard collecting was not popular in those years and many were simply discarded. The company has since been part of a number of acquisitions and mergers.
Many of the same images used by the Union Oil Company for their photochrome cards were printed in a fine continuous tone color gravure by the Fidelity Reproduction Company of Los Angeles, California. These cards all had white borders as opposed to the bleeds of the Union Oil cards and were labeled Truepicture Post Card.

United Art Co.   (1936-)
Boston, MA

A publisher of view-cards depicting the greater Boston area first in linens and later as photochromes. They used a variety of different printers.

United Art Publishing   (1901-1916)
New York, NY

A publisher of halftone lithographic and hand colored postcards. They were printed in both Germany and in the United States.

United States Lines   1921-1992
New York, NY

This company was formed by the U.S. Shipping Board when the U.S. Mail Steamship Company failed to properly operate the the ships put under their control that were taken from Germany as part of World War One reparations. Additional ships were added to the line but it continued to incur debt and its eleven ships were sold in 1929 to the P.W. Chapman Company who kept the same name but now incorporated it. In 1969 it ended passenger service but continued running its container ships until 1989. Three years later the company was liquidated. They published a number of lithographic postcards for publicity while operating their passenger service.

United View Co.   (1907-1930)
Newark, DE

Published view-cards of scenes from the mid-Atlantic region.

Universal Postal Card Co.   (1897-1907)
25-27 3rd Avenue, New York, NY

Published five sets of 43 halftone lithographic black & white souvenir cards of New York City, Philadelphia, and military themes. They were one of the few publishers of their day to create contemporary cards that depicted scenes from the Spanish American War. They went on to published private mail cards, many of which were reprints of earlier images.

Unusual Photographs Reproduction Co.   (1931-1950)
19 Park Place, New York, NY

Published real photo postcards of New York City scenes. These cards were produced in large numbers and manufactured in Germany.

Utica Paper Co.   (1909-1913)
Utica, New York

This company published many local view-cards in lithography. They are characterized by a crude, heavy and distinct RGB pallet printed over a black & white halftone. They also issued a more finely printed set of black & white collotypes that were manufactured in Germany.

Uvachrom AG   (1913-1950)
Munich, Bavaria

A publisher of color postcards, many in large numbered series. While many of their cards on subjects such as fairytales or operatic scenes were artist drawn, they also produced photography based view-cards that were manufactured through a technique also known as Uvachom. The Uvacrom process, a subtractive method for color printing was patented by Arhur Traube in 1916. It was a difficult process and did not see widespread commercial use. It was also used to produce book illustrations for Farbwenphotographie (Union for Chromatic Photography).