Curt Teich & Co, others<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1909, 1936, 1941, 1949<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Self, Ottenheimer Publishers, others<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Greetings from Baltimore” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Colorful offset printing and inexpensive linen cardstock combined with Americans\u2019 nascent love of automobiles and travel to create a boom in the popularity of picture postcards in first half of the 20th Century. Travelers could send home images from their travels for just two cents \u2014 a penny for the postcard and a penny for the postage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This series of postcards \u2014 displaying influences that range from Art Nouveau to Modernism \u2014 are examples of \u2018large-letter\u2019 design style celebrating the city of Baltimore. A \u201cGreetings from Baltimore\u201d postcard would allow a traveler to send home multiple Charm City images often framed within letters spelling out B-A-L-T-I-M-O-R-E. This design style was first popularized in Germany in the 1890s. American companies were picking up on this trend in the early 20th Century as shown by the two 1909 postcards here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Curt Teich, a printer who emigrated to the United States from Germany in 1895, started a line of \u201cGreetings from\u2026\u201d postcards in 1904. An early adopter of offset printing, Teich patented many printing techniques that allowed him to produce brilliant colors including \u2018Colortone,\u2019 a five-color process used on the cards seen here from 1936, 1941 and 1949. Teich\u2019s company employed hundreds of travelling salespeople who visited cities to sell the concept, staying to take photographs that could later be retouched by their art department to use in postcard designs. Curt Teich & Co. would go on to create \u201cGreetings from\u2026\u201d postcards featuring images from more than 1,000 cities in all 50 states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
https:\/\/archivesspace.ubalt.edu\/repositories\/2\/resources\/95 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heavy Metal Madness: Greetings from Big Letters USA<\/a><\/blockquote>