Art of the Postcard

In a January 1st post I mentioned my attraction to old Pelikan posters advertising products from the company’s early years. Chances of finding one of these old vintage examples from yesteryear are unlikely unless you spend a good part of your time scrounging in thrift shops, dusty junk shops and garage sales. I like to think that one day when I least expect it, a casual look through junk shop miscellany will unveil the Pelikan poster of my dreams.

The four examples here are scans of a set of postcards that a friend gave me recently. I asked where he got the postcards and learned that they are not for sale in stores, but rather souvenir cards mailed directly from Pelikan to certain customers.

The oldest is the Anthracen-Tinte card, the original a poster from 1882. Next in line is the Pelikan-Tuschen card from a 1909 poster; third is the Pelikan Tinte poster from 1925, and last is the poster showing a Pelikan 100 fountain pen, dated 1929, the year that pen was first produced.