Bradford Junior College ... ?rpp

I would very much appreciate a little help classifying this card.

It appears to be an RPP, featuring:

- very fine detail (molecules being smaller than ink drops);

- the characteristic bi-material curl (sad, but useful);

- a nice, shiny/reflective surface;

- a chronistically correct/suggestive UDB (UnDivided Back).

However:

- Bradford Junior College only went by that name from 1932, which is a little late for an RPP;

- the emulsion layer is not physically distinct from the paper card, as is usually obvious at the worn edges of an RPP;

- the image depth-of-field is really good, but might not be good enough for an RPP.

To add to the suspense, I have two other cards of Bradford Junior College, both from publisher Meriden Gravure. They perfected a collotype process in the late 1800s, and achieved quite the reputation for art reproductions, book illustrations, et al.

But those two cards *look* like collotypes, as they are absent the image depth-of-field and shiny/reflective surface and obvious emulsion layer ...

So ... any thoughts?

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Not sure if this helps, but the automobiles pictured on the card certainly date the image to the mid to late 1930s at the earliest.

Adding self-insult to self-injury, I want you to know, wt1, that I used the [sharpen] feature of the image optimizer to insure that the words on the back of the card were clear & legible, without bothering to think that about what they were & what they meant. Obviously, the back *is* divided. Duh.

That anomaly resolved, I'll put this one with the collotypes, note the protective coating and, in the words of Friar Tuck in Costner's Robin Hood, be thankful for this lesson in humility.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

The image is a bit small but I think the cars are 1940-41 vintage. The headlights appear to be integrated into the front fenders and this is a design element that the majority of models didn't have until 1940. They also don't have any vestiges of a running board.
don

Having lived a few miles from that building some years ago, I thought you may also be interested to know that the building shown on that postcard still stands today. Although what was once Bradford Academy, later Bradford Junior College, and finally, Bradford College, closed in 2000, it was later acquired by Zion Bible College (affiliated with the Assembly of God church), which relocated there from Rhode Island and (as of 01/01/2013) changed its name to Northpoint Bible College.

Here's a photo of the facade as it appears today:



This may also be of interest:




Here's a more in-depth news article for those interested:

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/re...L/story.html