Figure 1.--This postcard of a little boy on an autoped (scooter) was made by the ABC company in France. It was postally used in the Netherlands during 1932. Some versions like this one had Dutch-language greetings. Click on the image for a similar card without the Dutch greeting postally used in 1933. HBC does not believe that the boy actually wore an orange jacket, but it would have been eye catching in a shop. I'm not sure what this means in Dutch. Note that the ABC file number on these different cards is identical.

Color post cards were introduced before there were practical color photographic processes or economical ways of printing color images. Many French postcards from the 1900s and 1910s were black and white photographs that had color painted in. Color was very appealing to a then black and white world and these painted images proved very popular. I'm not sure just what the printing process was. A lot of the postcards of children were printed in this manner. The question is, how accuate are the colors. HBC believes that they were not very accurate at all. While a great deal of useful information can be gleaned from these postcards, we do not believe that realiable information on the the color of the outfits boys wore is among the information that can be used. We know this not only because many cards had unrealistic colors, but also we have the same or similar card painted in different colors. Some of these cards were colorized in great volume. The person or firm doing the coloring probably has no idea what the boy was actually wearing. The colors on many cards appear to have colorized to attract the eye of potential customers rather than to accuartely record the boy's outfit. HBC is just speculating at this time, but would like to know more about how the various colors appearing on these cards were selected. Was it up to the artist, or was he given instructions by the postcard company.

Chronology

Color post cards were introduced before there were practical color photographic processes or economical ways of printing color images. Many French postcards from the 1900s and 1910s were black and white photographs that had color painted in. Color was very appealing to a then black and white world and these painted images proved very popular. Cards done in color lithography were widely available by the 1940s, but by this time the fashion of sending cards with children in fancy outfits had declined. Interestingly, cards from the smaller number of cards that do exist from the 1940s and 50s are generally straight black and white photo cards with out painted in color.

Company Practices

Not all the cards were painted in bright colors. From a specufic shoot, a company might do some in bright colors. Usually this maent that the clothing was painted outlandish colors. Some cards from the same shoot might be left esentially in black and white. At this time we do not really know how such practices varied over time or between countries and individual companies in those countries. We are, however, acquiring increasing numbers of card images and may have more to say on this subject at a lter time.

Process

I'm not sure just what the printing process was. Presumably there was a studio where large numbers of balck and white postcards were delivered and a staff of painters meticuously hand colored them to the supervisors directions. A very large number of postcards of children were printed in this manner, especially in the years from about 1910-35.

Accuarcy

The question is, how accuate are the colors. HBC believes that they were not very accurate at all. While a great deal of useful information can be gleaned from these postcards, we do not believe that realiable information on the the color of the outfits boys wore is among the information that can be used. There are several factors which lead us to the conclusion that these cards did not have accurate color depictions.

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Created: November 2, 2001
Last updated: 7:49 PM 7/17/2008