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).
But this is what I said there:
The Tasmanian Mail postcards are b&w cards that were issued as inserts in the Christmas Numbers of The Tasmanian Mail in 1905 and 1906. The item below, from The Mercury of 19 December, 1906, is an advertisement for the Christmas Number of 1906. In the middle of this paragraph it mentions "a page of picture postcards ready for use". A year before, a similar article advertising the 1905 Christmas Number said "... picture postcards, of which a page will be in the Christmas Number of "The Tasmanian Mail". Perforated and ready for mailing, they depict Tasmanian scenery, progress and flora."
Looking at the cards available now, they have some serrated edges and some straight edges, showing how they were separated from the perforated, printed page. The number of cards on the page and the page layout is not yet known; eventually we will be able to reassemble the page as it was issued.
The cards were printed in halftone, no doubt on the newspaper's own presses.
Some of the cards are captioned in upper case only and some in mixed upper and lower case. Does this distinguish between the 1905 and 1906 issues?
- TasMail.JPG (204.04 KiB) Viewed 1837 times
Its good to see the West Coast cards that Pete has turned up. I still don't know how many separate issues of these were made, so any additional cards are welcome.
Des Beechey