Valentine and Sons, New York and Boston

Some of the postcards in our collection were printed by Valentine and Sons of New York and Boston. Valentine & Sons Co. was in operation from 1907-1909 and had their offices at 58 West 15th Street, New York, New York.

Originally from Dundee, Scotland, where they produced many postcards of scenes in Great Britain, Valentine and Sons came to New York and later opened another branch in Boston, Massachusetts. They published view-cards depicting scenes throughout the country. While many of these cards were printed in the United States in their later years, they have the exact same distinct look of the tinted halftones that were printed in Great Britain. All cards are numbered and have a three digit prefix and a three digit suffix. In 1909 they merged with the Hugh C. Leighton Company of Portland, Maine to become Leighton and Valentine.

To see an example of a Valentine and Sons card search for the tag "Horne's Pond" without the quotes.

Frank W. Swallow - Man of Many Talents

Many of the postcards that you will find in this collection were printed by Frank W. Swallow. A businessman from Exeter, New Hampshire, Swallow was involved in multiple projects in the area including selling wholesale crockery for Mitchell Woodbury and Company, partnering with Herbert F. Dunn in a real estate development firm called Exeter Park Land Company, and working as an automobile salesman. Printing local postcards was the last enterprise he was involved with. It enabled him to combine his love of travel, autos, and sales.

Swallow traveled throughout Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont and took all his own photographs for the postcards. Then, he started a small business colorizing them. For this, he hired women aptly called the "Swallow Girls" to colorize the images he took. The business,located at 40 Lincoln Street in Exeter, counted Eva and Christine Button along with Lucy Boswell among the painters.

Source: Merrill, Nancy Carnegie. (1988) Exeter New Hampshire 1888-1988. Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Peter E. Randall Publisher. Derry Public Library Historical Collection. HIST COLL 974.26 men