Divided back, unused, commercial-type Real Photo Postcard of Arctic Blue Fox. Photographer: Robinson. Number or Series: 316-E. Circa late 1940s.
Price: $15.00
The blue (a smoky gray, blueish gray or black) is a color phase of the Arctic Fox. See photo 4/16 by Bjorn Anders Nymoen (Your Shot) in this link.
Most likely, the image of this beautiful animal can be attributed to travelog lecturer and world traveler Karl Henry Robinson. Many newspaper accounts can be found detailing some of his travels and lecture stops, including the two articles below:
San Bernardino County Sun, Oct. 15, 1950
The Bakersfield Californian, Nov. 18, 1949.
Reminiscent of My Cousin Vinny….
In researching other possibilities for photographers named Robinson, we find a color postcard of Franklin Street, Juneau, Alaska attributed to a Howard Robinson under publisher J. Boyd Ellis for sale online. However, also for sale, but in black and white and signed “Robinson” (same as our postcard above) is almost the exact same view of Franklin Street. The large clock in both photos show the time as two minutes apart. Are we to believe that two photographers with the last name of Robinson showed up at the same time to take photos of this street, from an identical angle? Highly unlikely. More likely, the color version was adapted from the black and white photo. (We’ve seen this a number of times in the world of postcards. Images are slightly altered, for example, a person is added into the scene, or taken out. Sometimes it’s quite obvious, other times, not so much.) To compare the two, here’s the digital page from Card Cow that, at the time of this post, offers both Franklin Street postcards for sale.
More on Karl…
Karl Henry Robinson, son of dentist Henry S. Robinson and Ella H. Davis, was born August 17, 1902 in Attleboro, Massachusetts. He married Ruth Charmion Cotton in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on February 14, 1939. He died in Los Angeles County, California May 29, 1997.
The following (don’t mind the typo on Karl’s father’s initials) is an article on Karl and Ruth’s wedding:
San Francisco Chronicle, March 4, 1939.
Sources: “Arctic Fox. Alopex lagopus.” National Geographic. (Web accessed August 16, 2016.)
“Karl Robinson To Deliver Speech On ‘China Journey.’ ” San Bernardino County Sun, 15 October 1950, Sunday, p. 16. (Newspapers.com).
“Alaskan Films Presented to Large Crowd at Forum.” The Bakersfield Californian, 18 November, 1949, Friday p. 22. (Newspapers.com).
Card Cow digital page image re search for “Robinson” and “Alaska”. (Web accessed August 16, 2016.)
Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts. (Ancestry.com).
State of California. California Death Index, 1940-1997. Sacramento, CA, USA: State of California Department of Health Services, Center for Health Statistics. (Ancestry.com).
“Ruth Cotton Married in Pennsylvania.” San Francisco Chronicle, 4 March 1939. p. 107. (Genealogybank.com).