Valentine's PCs of Tasmania, Series 1-19

[Des_Beechey]

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, including Tasmania.

SERIES 1 The 48,000 series

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This was Valentine's first series of Tasmanian postcards.  They are based on Valentine's negatives with numbers in the 48,000 range.  The earliest usage date is in 1906, which was before a branch of J. Valentine & Sons was established in Australia.  The images were supplied to Valentine’s in Scotland by H.W. Grattan of Launceston, so he may have been responsible for sale of the cards in Tasmania. The cards have the same back as some cards published by the British publisher ETW Dennis, which suggests Valentine's used them as the printer.
 
Series Contents:  J. Valentine & Sons, of  Dundee, Scotland, maintained a register of their holding of negatives, which they called their “View Register”.  This register is now held by the University of St. Andrews, who make it available on line. The register lists a group of negatives with numbers in the range 48656 – 48689,  sourced from Henry W. Grattan, 40 Brisbane St, Launceston. All of the cards that I have seen in this series are from this group of negatives,  but whether or not all negatives in the sequence were printed as cards is not yet known.
These ar the register entries:
48656  Tasmania, Breakwater, Burnie, N.W. Coast
48657  Tasmania, Latrobe
48658  Tasmania, Crows Nest Cataract Gorge, Launceston
48659  Tasmania, Deloraine
48660  Tasmania, Cataract Gorge, Launceston
48661  Tasmania, Cataract Gorge from Tea Room, Launceston
48662  Tasmania, Hobblers Bridge near Launceston
48663  Tasmania, Macquarie Bridge & River, Ross
48664  Tasmania, Launceston from Trevallyn
48665  Tasmania, River Mersey, Devonport
48666  Tasmania, Entally Bridge, Hadspen near Launceston
48667  Tasmania, 1st Basin, Cataract Gorge, Launceston
48668  Tasmania, Kings Bridge, entrance to Cataract Gorge, Launceston
48669  Tasmania, Launceston from Trevallyn
48670  Tasmania, Circular Head, from … Road, Burnie
48671  Tasmania, Beauty Point
48672  Tasmania, Epping, South Esk River
48673  Tasmania, Princes Square, Launceston
48674  Tasmania, St. Patricks River & Fisherman’s Hut
48675  Tasmania, Falls, Lilydale
48676  Tasmania, Corra Linn Bridge near Launceston
48677  Tasmania, Six hours’ fishing, North Esk River, 2 rods
48678  Tasmania, Cataract Gorge, Launceston
48679  Tasmania, Denison Gorge
48680  Tasmania, Pulpit Rock, Corra Linn, near Launceston
48681  Tasmania, Silver Falls, Fern Tree Bower, Hobart
48682  Tasmania, Tasmania, Government House (Domain) Hobart
48683  Tasmania, Wharf, Hobart
48684  Tasmania, Wharf and Battery Point, Hobart
48685  Tasmania, Botanic Gardens, Hobart
48686  Tasmania, Fern Tree Bower, Hobart
48687  Tasmania, Tasmania, Hut at Fern Tree Bower
48688  Tasmania, Hobart
48689  Tasmania, Macquarie Street, Hobart
 
Date Published: The earliest postmark date I have seen is 22 May, 1906; most used cards are postmarked in 1906 or 1907.
 
Printing: The printing method is multicolour photolithography, with a black halftone layer superimposed.  The back layout is that of some ETW Dennis cards, suggesting they were the printer.
 
Number in Series: If all the images listed above appeared on cards there were 34 cards in the series.
 
Identification: On the front of the cards there is the usual Valentine logo of JV in a circle, with the view negative number beside it. The back of the cards has the layout seen on cards printed by E.T.W. Dennis, suggesting they were the printers.

[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 manipulated negative. Here is an example of the front and back of one of these cards:

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Series Contents: The moonlight views are from the negatives in the 48656-48689. I don’t know if there is a moonlight version for all the cards in that series.

Date Published: The earliest postmark date I have seen is 9 July, 1906.

Printing: The printing method was the same as for Series 1 48,000 Series i.e.multicolour photolithography, with a black halftone layer superimposed.

Identification: The cards have a negative number and the Valentine logo of JV in a circle on the front. On the back, the imprint “Valentines Series” appears along the left margin.

Here is an example of a negative used for a daylight view, and the same negative used for the moonlight view. The clouds are quite different, but the rest of the image is the same.

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[admin]

A very interesting example of early image manipulation. Great research Des.

[Des_Beechey]

Series 3. 53,000 Series

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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 Contents: These cards are registered in the Valentine View Register with numbers in the range 53659 – 53676. (For details of the Valentine View Registers see the introduction to the "1. 48,000 Series"). An annotation in the register says “per W. Wilkinson, 9th June”, but there is no indication of Mr Wilkinson’s role, whether photographer, seller or whatever. The cards listed in the register are:

53659 Tasmania. Sunset on River Tamar
53660 Tasmania. Shades of Evening, River Tamar
53661 Tasmania. Close of Day
53662 Tasmania. A Bush Hut
53663 Tasmania. The old mill near Perth
53664 Tasmania. Supply Creek, River Tamar
53665 Tasmania. The beach near Wynyard
53666 Tasmania. River Mersey, Devonport
53667 Tasmania. The old mill, North Esk near Perth
53668 Tasmania. River Mersey near Devonport
53669 Tasmania. Unverstone and Breakwater
53670 Tasmania. A busy day at Beaconsfield
53671 Launceston. The Soldier’s Memorial
53672 Launceston. Ladies College Elphin Road
53673 Launceston. Electric Power House
53674 Launceston. Regatta Day, Stephensons [sic] Bend
53675 Launceston. Willow Tree, Cataract Gorge
53676 Launceston. Corra Linn Bridge

Date Published: The earliest postmark date is Dec 7, 1906.

Printing: The printing method is multicolour lithography, with a black halftone layer superimposed. The cards have “Printed in Great Britain” on the back.

Number in Series: If all the images listed above were printed on cards the number would be 18.

Identification: The back is printed in brown, and is similar but not identical to earlier series. There is “VALENTINE’S SERIES” along the left margin.

[Des_Beechey]

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 a Souvenir Post Cards back. They were no doubt printed in 1906, along with the "3. 53,000 Series" cards, just using a different back as a sales device. They were printed by multicolour photolithography as the earlier series were.

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[Des_Beechey]

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 earliest postmark date I have seen is 8 July 1907. The cards were produced in the UK, and printed by colour photolithography as before.

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