Inherited Some Post Cards

Hello. I found this group by accident and am glad I did. I inherited a small collection of antique/vintage postcards, maybe 100 or so. I say antique because many appear to be pre-1920. Im particularly interested in these in the pics. They have no marks so I don't know how to research them. I'm hoping you would be kind enough to share some information with me. I think there are about 23 of these in the photo.

Hello, and welcome. It's not possible to see much from your photo. Could you take clear close-ups of some of the individual cards, or, better still, scan them?

Individual photo/scans would be much better.

Which makes them sound a little more like photographs than post cards unless, of course, you are thinking that some of the marks do not matter.

For example, do you think that they are post cards because there is a 'stamp box' on the back? If so, get happy, stamp boxes can tell you a bit about about your post cards.

Q/ So what's on the backs?

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

More photos please.

My initial thought was they looked more like stereographs. Without some larger pictures, especially of the back, we won't be able to tell.

Ok. Sorry for the delay getting these uploaded in better quality. I'm handicapped in technology right now so it took me a min. These four pics are a pretty good representation of the group. I misspoke when I said no markings. There are a couple of lines on the back and some have the stamp box. Anyway...hopefully they uploaded. Thanks in advance yall.

My best guess would be World War 1 era. The tiny picture also seems to show trenches, barb wire etc

I'm pretty sure WWI. Many of the pics are of barb wire and trenches. A few with soldiers. Bomb shelter openings. What appears to be barracks. Leveled forests. Destroyed buildings and homes. etc.

Even one of what appears to be mass graves with make shift crosses at the head of each.

It is kind of odd that these were designed to be mailed, but there is no indication of who printed/sold them and what the photographs represent. Also, there are no humans (that I can see) in any of the photos.

"It is kind of odd that these were designed to be mailed, but there is no indication of who printed/sold them and what the photographs represent. Also, there are no humans (that I can see) in any of the photos."

Only one of the cards has people in it (soldiers).

These real photo postcards were made by someone who didn't have the correct size film to fit the photo paper that was made for making photos into postcards. With the number 38, that suggests a commercial negative. However, because the two shown are crookedly placed, this looks like the work of an amateur photographer/developer. With the margins showing edge shadows as well, these are probably contact prints (negative the same size as print).

So these are scarcer than commercially made real photo postcards, possibly unique. But you have to have very interesting subjects and identification (if possible) to have much value.

So what do you do with these? Find a historian that can identify the sites? A WWI historian? Take them to a college history professor? The army/navy surplus store? ¯\_(#12484;)_/¯

Plenty of photographers roamed France & Belgium with Real Photo cameras; often, they took pictures of soldiers to sell to the soldiers but, when that wasn't possible, it makes perfect sense that they would try taking documentary photographs to sell later on.

What would be less likely is that the photographer would carry two large, heavy cameras, one for the 'instant' Real Photo trade, and one for history.

If you've got some larger (5x7) contact prints of well-composed documentary photographs, make an effort to see if they are the work of Lewis Hine, who toured post-war Europe (France, Italy, Balkans) to document conditions for the American Red Cross.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Thanks ikeyPikey.
That is appreciated.