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Page 14 The Antique Shoppe October, 2017
Raphael Tuck & Sons
A TREASURE CHEST OF HALLOWEEN POSTCARDS
by Roy Nuhn
Series No . 174
alloween postcards were published in
Hgreat abundance in the years from 1904
to 1914, and a few in the decade that followed.
Though populated by all sorts of supernatural
creatures that once scared folks, it was a time of
growing irreverence towards "things that go bump
in the night" and postcards of that era often joined
in the fun.
Halloween postcards were meant for people
to mail to each other, as they would any holiday
card. Despite the best efforts of greeting card
companies since the 1930s, the intensity and
widespread observance of this custom has long
since disappeared.
Nearly 100 different publishers, mostly
American but including a significant number of
English and German firms, manufactured and
distributed more than 3,000 different Halloween
postcards. Many of these companies were giant
concerns located in New York City, home to this
country's postcard publishing industry. Others
were found in a score of large and small cities
throughout the land, as well. Also making New
York City their operations center were a dozen
or so multi-national publishers from Europe.
Among these were Raphael Tuck & Sons, based in
London, the largest postcard manufacturer in the
western world.
Tuck's New York City branch had been
established in the waning years of the previous
century to sell and distribute the company's
massive outpouring of paper novelty goods and
children's books. When the postcard fad swept
England and Europe in the 1890s, and, a decade
later, the United States, Tuck quickly became the
world's largest producer and seller of them. They
grabbed the lion's share of the market, both here
and in other countries, by employing the best
illustrators England and America had to offer and been a result of the effects of the 1909 Payne-
by having their cards printed by the lithographic Aldrich tariff act which taxed postcard imports
factories of Bavaria, then the world's best. much higher than before.
With the possible exception of the exquisite The five sets in the 800 range of numbers,
offerings from John Winsch Co., the Halloween along with Series No. 100, were sold during the
postcards most sought for so very long by declining years of the postcard craze, 1913 and
collectors have been the treasures published 1914.
by Tuck. As with many other themes, Tuck's Series No. 100, a renegade in the numbering
postcards far surpassed all others in both beauty format - all the others were printed, numbered and
and variety of design. sold in sequential order - has the distinction of
being the only Tuck Halloween set manufactured
Fourteen different sets from Tuck have been in this country, not in Saxony. The quality is
identified and documented. Two, Series No. definitely lower grade than the others. Its release
150 and Series No. 160, are relatively common, date in 1914 indicates that the war then raging
having been repeatedly reprinted year after year in Europe was the reason for its being printed in
for the pre-World War I marketplace. The others, this country, rather than in Bavaria or Saxony in
especially the 800 numbered sets, have always Germany.
been difficult to find. It is known that the Tuck branch office in New
York City, upon orders received from the London
home office, had about a dozen different sets
of various topics done by American printers. A
shortage of supplies in England, U-Boat warfare,
lack of commercial shipping, and loss of contacts
in Germany, now the enemy, caused Raphael Tuck
& Sons to attempt several remedies to stay afloat
and in business during the difficult war years.
The range of the Halloween postcard is so
great that a collector could specialize in one
topical, such as cats, witches or pumpkin-headed
men, or in one publisher, and spend his or her
entire life trying to find everything published in
Series No. 160 Series No. 181 the years after the turn of the 20th century. One
theme within the Halloween category favored by
many hobbyists is Raphael Tuck & Sons' many
wonderful cards. Fourteen sets of varying card
counts are known but we still do not know the
entire story behind every set or if others exist. The
joy of discovery awaits.
Have a Happy Halloween!
Tuck's first Halloween set, Series No. 150, was
placed on sale in 1908. This was followed the
next year by Series No. 160. During the next five
years, leading up to the eruption of World War I in
August of 1914, 12 more sets were issued. These
came out one each in 1910 and 1911; and two each
in 1912, 1913, and 1914. The last three, Series
Numbers 816, 830 and 831, we do not know for
sure their release dates, but most likely it was in
1913 or 1914.
The earliest, numbered 150, 160 and 174 (on
sale from 1908 to 1910) contained 12 cards each.
The sets that followed had fewer cards, 10 being
a favorite figure, but often only three. This change
in the number of cards in individual sets parallels
what Tuck did with their Washington's Birthday
postcards over the same span of time. It may have Series No. 190