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We are familiar with DIC cards, produced by the Direct Importing Company. Before they produced postcards they were importers of homewares and lots of other goods. This photo shows their shop in Brisbane Street, Launceston, next to the Brisbane Hotel. The date is unclear, but before 1905. The photo w...

Some time ago Ross asked for information about Selwyn Cox. It has taken some time, but here it is. Selwyn Cox (1871-1941) Selwyn Cox was a stationer and postcard publisher in Launceston. His obituary in the Launceston Examiner of 3 Dec 1941 gave an overview of his life: "The death occurred at his re...

John Walker & Company John Walker & Co printed a dozen or so Tasmanian postcards about 1903. The following is a general introduction to their cards. More information and details of the cards can be found on my web site http://beecheyspostcardhistory.org.au John Walker & Co was a London manufacturer...

Geoffrey Malcolm Drysdale Breaden (1917-2002) Geoffrey Malcolm Drysdale Breaden, usually given as G.M. Breaden, was born in Tasmania in 1917. He was the son of J.C. Breaden, who was also a photographer and publisher of postcards. G.M. Breaden attended the Friends School in Hobart, and the Hobart Te...

I have investigated the background of the Launceston publisher H.W. Grattan in preparation for making an entry for him on my website. The most difficult part was working out what the W in his initial stood for! Henry Washington Grattan, 1872-1949 H.W. Grattan was born in London in 1872 and came to A...

These cards were published by Robert Jolley. He used a number of different back designs, of which this squiggly line style is one.

Des Beechey

Here is an excellent picture of trams and a trolley bus, presumably outside the Town Hall. Can anyone date it? If we knew when the last double decker trams ran it would help.

And what was the event? There is a big crowd there.

This must be Ash Besters best card!

Des Beechey

Below is shown a RPPC captioned "Circular Beach - Bicheno". Is there any information about who the publisher was? It's no. 4, so there must be at least no. 1 to 3.

Des Beechey

This query is about Webster Rometch buses, rather than postcards. When I was aged about 7, ie in 1950, in travelled from Hobart to Dover on a Webster Rometch bus of the type that had rows of sets that went across the whole width of the bus with a door at each side. There was no centre aisle for acce...

There was some discussion a few years ago about King Island postcards. The King Island card below has just come my way and can add a little to the discussion. It is interesting for several reasons. Firstly it was produced for J.J. Ball, who apparently was a shop keeper on King Island, but his cards ...

Hi Ross, I am interested in this comment of yours about Spurling being appointed official photographer: * from August 1899, Spurling & Son were appointed the official photographer for northern Tasmania and was given exclusive rights there to use the then Tasmanian coat-of-arms on their photographic ...

Series 5 - Green back 1907 Series The fifth series of Valentine cards differs mainly from the earlier series by having a different back layout. The images used are the same as the earlier series i.e. negative numbers in the 48,000 and 53,000 groups, but there is a different back layout. The earlies...

Series 4 - Souvenir Post Cards This is the 4th of 20 series of Tasmanian cards published by Valenine & Sons. This series has an unusual "Souvenir Post Card" back. They use negative numbers 53659-53676, which is the same as the "3. 53,000 Series" cards, but I have not seen all of those numbers with ...

Series 3. 53,000 Series 4177Combined.jpg This is a group of coloured postcards with Valentine View Register numbers in the range 53659–53676, hence the series name. The front layout and printing technology is identical to the previous two series, ie 48,000 Series and Moonlight Series. Series Conten...

Thanks Neville.

Cheers

Des Beechey

Series 2 Moonlight Series This series consists of moonlight views, based on the same negatives as the Series 1 48,000 Series. To make a moonlight view, an artist inserted the moon and extra clouds into a photograph that was taken in daylight, and created an underexposed printing plate from the mani...

There are 19 different series of Valentine's postcards of Tasmania. Over the next 19 weeks, I will post examples and basic information about each series. Valentines were one of Britain's biggest postcard publishers, based in Dundee, Scotland. They published cards for most Australian states, includin...

Hello Admin, That's a very useful list of Williams card. I take it that Fran Williams is a descendent? If so, she may be able to tell us what his initials stand for. His photographs are identified as TRG Williams, but his birth certificate that I located (see my post above) gave his name only as Tho...

I am currently documenting the numerous series of Valentine postcards with views of Tasmania. At the moment I am looking at "Series 15 Thick Card Series". (If you would like to see the first 14 series, look at http://Beecheyspostcardhistory.org.au and choose the publisher Valentine (choose 'More' at...

McVilly & Little, Fancy Goods merchants of LIverpool Street, Hobart, published about a dozen series of cards. I have just come across a case where the same image was used twice in the one series, a situation I have never seen before in M&L cards. It is in the M&L b&w series, with number 10 and numbe...

Hi Admin, (Alias Pete) I did some work on the Tasmanian Mail postcards a year or so ago, but apparently didn't post it on the Bulletin Board. But you can see it on my web site http://beecheyspostcardhistory.org.au (Select 'Tasmanian Mail' for the publisher, which is on the second page of publishers)...

Valentine Publishing Company was a large postcard publisher based in Scotland. They published Tasmanian cards from about 1906. You will have noticed on Valentine cards that there is usually a number on the front, beside the Valentine logo of JV in a circle. These are Valentines negative numbers. The...

The information about P.M. Koonin that I posted earlier in this stream was compiled in 2012. Then I discovered an article by Zoe D’Arcy, of the National Archives of Australia [8]. Zoe showed that Koonin had been naturalised as an Australian in 1910. After he left Australia in 1912, he worked in Lond...

P.M. Koonan was a Russian who migrated to Australia and set up a photographic studio in Elizabeth Street, Hobart. He only stayed in Hobart for two years 1910-1912. He was an unusual and controversial figure, being classified as an “undesirable” at one stage. His full story is given on my website htt...

HUNTING WITH HOUNDS IN TASMANIA The picturesque view on the right side of the card below is labelled 'Hunting in Tasmania'. The card is by Robert Jolley of Melbourne, and published in 1902. 4558F.jpg Did the gentlemen really go hunting with hounds and wearing top hats in Tasmania? I wonder what the...