H. J. King Postcards?

[GarethL]

Hi, does anyone know if amateur Launceston photographer, and motorbike lover, Herbert J King ever had hus work produced as postcards. There's a manipulated image he created showing a thylacine from Beaumaris superimposed onto a view of Cradle Mountain. In the lower right hand corner is a copyright notice indicating the image was to be ysed publicly. QVMAG only give the date of thus as around 1935, and as yet it doesn't seem to have appeared in any publication. As a result a postcard seems like a possible candidate.

I have come across one reference to a postcard 'possibly' attributed to King, but I was wondering if there were any other examples known. I know that as both a keen petrol head, and amateur photographer, whose bike shop was on Brisbane St, he must have known Stephen Spurling, who shared his love of motors, and whose studios were on the same street. Is there any suggestion that tany of King's photos were produced via postcard by Spurling?

Thanks for reading.

[admin]

Gareth,
The answer to your question is yes. King did produce postcards, was a keen motorcycle enthusiast and possible even an early aviation enthusiast.

There are cards showing him and Stephen Spurling with their bikes. One series shows a trip to Cradle Mt at a time when road access was difficult.
I found the following two posts on the Board here:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=874&p=3658&hilit=H+J+King#p3658

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=855&p=3554&hilit=H+J+King#p3554

I am sure there are more if you are prepared to sift through search results. For the best search options, click the small cog next to the search box at the top of the page on the right. Then select the Postcard forum to limit searches to a more specific list though you may still get a lot that are not quite relevant.
There is now a lot of information on this site but sometimes its included as a side note under another topic

Keep us informed should you find any further information.

Pete

[GarethL]

Hi, and thanks for the reply.

Seeing Spurling and King together is great as it confirms, as I realised must be the case, the men were friends, and worrying for the same reason, because it raises the question of whether they might have used each other's photos at times.

But I am making progress on this, both on a photo attributed to King by QVMAG, and to two extremely impirtant histotical films, which I'm becoming more convinced were by him. But there's the spectre of Stephen Spurling, and whether they ended up owning any of each other's work. Which would make dating any of the images innacurate/hell.

I'm also of the opinion that one of the images I'm looking into might have been used fior a magic lantern show.

I'll continue to look into King's postcards, as the ultimate proof of who took the films I'm researching lies definitely in a postcard, one copy of which is held in the Australian Museum, and I'm hoping to recieve a picture of the back of this card soon. I'm also hoping that perhaps someone here may be able to rovide some info based on this that might help narrow down the identity of the photographer, although at this point I suspect it is King.

Thank you again very much for your help, and I will definitely keep you informed.

[admin]

Thanks Gareth.
We will certainly be interested to hear about anything further you might discover.
I gather King was something of a pioneer in aerial photography as mentioned. There are very few Tasmanian cards where the image was taken from the air. It would be interesting to know if you turn up anything in this area too.
Pete

[GarethL]

Hi,

Sorry I meant to mention this in my previous reply. Yes he was. I've come across reference to his aerial photography. He ran a few slide shows on the subject. I believe he also dabbled with airborne infra-red photography, to penetrate cloud etc, of the sort used in the Himalayas on one of the expeditions. I've come across reference to his having applied this technique in Tasmania.

Unfortunately, my main computer is playing hell at the moment so it's in for repair, and I'm typing on a tablet, which I don't know how to use properly. But come next week I'll post it all up here.

Also, there's a biography of King being produced at the moment, I'm not sure where it'll be available, or whether it's out yet but I don't think it is. I am in contact with the author though, whose work I particularly recomend, and will let you know.

[GarethL]

Thanks to information I recieved last night, I now know that King did use the following image on a postcard. There's a copy at QVMAG, but they don't tend to reply much, so does anyone here have any information on thiscard, have you seen a copy elsewhere, and is there a way to date these?

[GarethL]

Screenshot_20180503-150032.jpg (654.44 KiB) Viewed 3232 times

On the same subject, does anyone know if the image above appeared as a postcard. This one is particularly crucial, as if it can definitely be attributed to King, as it is by QVMAG, then one of the big outstanding questions regarding the photographic record of the thylacine is solved.

[GarethL]

Lastly, there's this. It was definitely a postcard, and was I think taken on the same day as the previous image. This is so far not attributed to anyone, but I think it's King. If anyone has any information on this card or any observations I'd be very grateful. Thanks for reading.

Screenshot_20180514-173950.jpg (174.59 KiB) Viewed 3232 times