January 16, 2006
 

Postcard Sells For $12,650.00!

CEDAR FALLS, IOWA- A world record price for a single unused postcard was established at Jackson’s International November 7th & 8th auction of Postcards, Stamps and Ephemera in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The circa 1898 unused postcard advertising Waverley Bicycles with artwork designed by Alphonse Mucha carried a pre-sale estimated of $7-$10,000. Bidding opened at $7,000 and slowly climbed between two in-house bidders and a phone bidder. When it was all over a collector from Illinois who came to the auction especially for that card paid $12,650.00 (including 15% buyers premium) and thereby established a new world record auction price fro a single unused postcard.

The two-day auction featured a variety of material from various collections including the estate of Kent Renshaw of Freeland, Washington and the items from the Jack and Susan Davis collection of Bozeman, Montana. The sale offered a little over 1,000 lots of postcards, stamps, ephemera, a few comics and a few coins and totaled $438,280.00.

Without a doubt the category of greatest interest was Art Nouveau, particularly those cards inspired by Alphonse Mucha (Czech 1860-1939), Raphael Kirchner (Austrian 1876-1917) and Samuel L. Schmucker (American 1879-1921). Buyers from France, Spain, Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland and Japan accounted for a good amount of the bidding in this area, although American buyers were also quite active and successful.

 Perhaps the most unique items to be offered were a set of 10 original watercolor and gouache postcard illustrations by American postcard artist Samuel Schmucker (1879-1921). Although each card measured only 5 ½ x 8 ½ inches, the group of ten (each sold individually) totaled a whopping $63,595.00. The highest individual price paid being $12,075.00, which sold to a collector from North Carolina. The Schmucker illustrations were produced as postcard by Detroit Publishing under the title the “Butterfly Girls”- as each card depicted an Art Nouveau style woman with butterfly wings.

The auction opened with the world recording setting Waverley Bicycles card that sold for $12,650.00 and continued with individual and sets of Art Nouveau cards with some highlights being: A set of 10 Moet & Chandon Art Nouveau plain back cards with envelopes selling to a buyer from Washington for $4,830.00 against a pre-sale estimate of $2,500-$3,000; A set of 30 Job postcards with envelopes and including two examples by Mucha sold for $3,450.00 against an estimate of $750-$1,000; A set of 12 Mucha “Months of the Year” cards sold to a Kansas City buyer for $2,530.00; Ten (series 653) Arpad Basch postcards finished at $2,185.00, more than doubling the low estimate; A set of 10 Leda & The Swan cards by Kirchner crossed the block at $2,070.00 more than doubling the high pre-sale estimate; A group of four Mucha “Belle Jardiniere” cards made $1,955.00; A single Mucha “Cocorico” design card sold to a Chicago buyer for $977.00; And the last items to sell in the Art Nouveau category were the 10 individual original hand painted watercolor postcard designs by Samuel Schmucker that totaled $63,595.00.

Halloween cards sold next. This is an area that continues to see strong upward movement particularly on good Winsch and Schmucker examples. Some highlights from this category include: A set of three Winsch embossed series cards sold for $2,242.00; An individual Winsch embossed series “Starry Halloween” card sold for $1,495.00;  Four Winsch “White Mash” series cards by Schmucker finished at $977.00; An interesting and unusual Uncle Sam invitation Halloween card sold to a buyer from Maryland for $460.00 and a Schmucker/Winsch card sold to a collector from Florida for $488.00.

Christmas postcards followed Halloween cards. This is a category which only a few years ago dominated the market but which is leveled out somewhat. Although, as in every category, desirable and rare examples still bring a premium and continue to measurably increase in value. Of particular interest at present seem to be the Hold-To-Light examples.  Hold-To-Light cards are so called because they are designed with certain areas (windows, lamps, letters) cut-out and backed in translucent colored paper which when held up to a light give an interesting illuminating effect. A few examples from the Christmas category include: a Hold-To-Light Santa that sold to a California buyer for $488.00; A pair of German Weihnachten Hold-To-Light cards sold to a collector from Pennsylvania for $920.00; A Maillick signed Hold-To-Light did $375.00 and a real hair novelty Santa card (his beard made of real hair) sold for $316.00.

Other well-established trends were also supported at this auction such as the popularity of real photo postcards, particularly within certain subjects. This is an area, which apparently has no end in sight due to the cross over appeal to collectors of 19th and early 20th century American photo images, which increases the competition and subsequently the prices. As an example a real photo postcard depicting a Texas location where “Three Negroes Were Burned At the Stake” sold for $1,380.00. Whereas a real photo postcard depicting the Syracuse New York Socialist Drum Corp, circa 1908 sold for $747.00.

One unique aspect of real photo postcards is the fact that more than a few examples are truly “one-of-a-kind.” This is because of the basic method in which many real photo postcards were produced. Towards the last quarter of the 19th century, itinerant photographers crossed the country producing images printed on photographic paper with postcard backings. It was common, for example, that a photographer would stop by any given small town and print real photo postcards of various well-known local scenes, or perhaps simply Main Street or local children at play. Scenes were sometimes only printed in very small quantities making these unique glimpses of everyday life into America’s past quite desirable. In these examples their broad appeal, like Norman Rockwell paintings, lies in the fact that most people can somehow relate to the scene or at the very least can imagine themselves transported to that specific time and place. Perhaps more than any other postcard category, real photo values are primarily subject driven.

Following is a small sampling of other real photo post card sales. A California buyer paid $1,380.00 for an autographed real photo postcard of the Three Stooges. A group of 20 real photo postcards depicting various blacksmith shops sold for $977.00. A pair of real photo Chicago baseball cards (Cubs and White Sox) sold for $632.00. A real photo card of a mail carrier on an Indian motorcycle sold for $431.00. An early real photo Boeing passenger plane card finished at $375.00. A Horse drawn wagon real photo card made $345.00 and a New York collector paid $325.00 for a real photo postcard of a tattooed lady.

A small but good offering of stamps and coins were offered next with the highlight being an American stamp album with examples from 1847-1985. It sold for $11,500.00. That was followed by seven Scott Platinum Series Albums partially filled that sold for $3,680.00. A collection of 58 U.S. Duck stamps (circa 1934-1992) sold to a buyer from Pennsylvania for $3,680.00 and another album of U.S. stamps sold for $1,380.00. A mostly complete set of U.S. Lincoln cents missing the 21S, 29S, 31D, 32D, 33 and 33D sold for $1,955.00.A small group of 30 pieces of fractional currency sold for $1,265.00 and another partial set of Lincoln cents (including the 09 S VDB) crossed the block at $1,150.00.

The sale concluded with a variety of miscellaneous ephemera including a few comic books, photographs and sports related items. Some highlights worth noting include a heavily damaged and repaired Batman #1 comic book sold to a buyer from Texas for $6,440.00. A Detective Comics issue #38 comic book sold for $2,300.00. A Christy Matthewson Cracker Jack card #E145 sold for $3,220.00. An American Carmel series #80 Babe Ruth card did $1,265.00 as did a group of 17 cigarette baseball cards. A Joe Chandler Harris “Uncle Remus” autographed card sold to a British buyer for $1,955.00. A 50-piece Duke Cigarette Card grouping “Histories of Generals” sold to a buyer from Alabama for $2,070.00 and a group of 100 Bill Graham Filmore cards sold for $1,725.00.

The auction attracted 416 registered bidders representing 12 countries and 43 states. As is typical of Jackson’s International, the auction catalog was beautifully illustrated in full color and with good detail. Furthermore, for the ephemera enthusiast Jackson’s International extends their pre-auction preview for such auctions, such as this sale, by providing 10 full days of preview with a professional and abundant staff to assist potential buyers, a model that should be followed by every firm. Additionally for those who attend Jackson’s ephemera sales, they are already familiar with Jackson’s set-up and display procedure which allows buyers to continually inspect items literally up to minutes before the actually go on the block. Combine that with a modern, comfortable and spotless gallery together with a highly professional yet totally accessible and friendly staff and it is no mystery as to why so many buyers and sellers of ephemera continually chose Jackson’s International as their first choice.