Undivided back, artist-signed, unused postcard. Publisher:  American Commercial Advertising Company, New York. Circa 1909 – 1910.

Price:  $20.00

Here’s an old postcard that was used for advertising purposes by the Los Angeles, California-based Mullen & Bluett Clothing Company, and shows an illustration by Hamilton, Ontario-born artist Benjamin Sayre Cory Kilvert. The clothing company wrote:

“The chill, cool days are coming, to remind the boys of our attractive assortments of Fall and Winter Clothes – Good styles and good values in the newest Suits, Overcoats, Hats and Furnishings.  Mullen & Bluett Clothing Co – Los Angeles, Cal.”

Two similar postcards were found (at the time of this post) for sale on eBay. They show the exact same format – illustrations by the same artist, calendar in top right, postcard back with the same “Mailing Card” heading, same publisher and the exact same writing style for the message. One is a summer scene with the calendar for August 1910 for the H.M.& R. Shoe Company,Toledo, Ohio, and the other a winter scene with a January 1910 calendar for The Luke Horsfall Company. This was really quite clever of the publisher, American Commercial Advertising:  You have designs by a popular artist, a new possibility every month, a small calendar (always handy) included on the card, and a space for the clothing company, shoe company or whatever, to write a few short lines to their existing and potential customers.

A third postcard, and one made for Mullen & Bluett, like the one we have here, can be found on the excellent Plummer & Associates’ Blog. They also show some old postcards of the various Mullen & Bluett stores.

Lastly, the postcard back showing “Mailing Card” and “This Side for Address Only” does not seem to have been as common as those that say “Private Mailing Card.” Probably this one was printed either in late 1909 or early 1910, but the company must have been using old card stock, since on March 1, 1907 the U.S. postal regulations had changed to allow the divided back.

Source:  Plummer, John. “Downtown Los Angeles History.” Plummer & Associates’ Blog. February 6, 2011. Web accessed November 21, 2014.