This vintage real photo postcard features actress Marjory Day (1887-1940). She was born in New Zealand. She was an actress and was known for “The Woman Who Was Nothing” (1917), “The Life of Lord Byron” (1922), and “The Fighting Marine” (1926). Miss Day was married and divorced from producer/actor George Desmond (1881-1969). The National Portrait Gallery has 15 portraits of Miss Day in their collection. This postcard captures Day exhibiting socially inappropriate behavior. Day’s deviant behavior is the fact that she is smoking a cigarette. She also seems to be wearing pants which is also a violation that could get her in trouble with the fashion police. To top things off, she is rebelliously staring at the photographer as this photo was taken. At first, I thought that Marjory Day was one of those “bad girls” of the theatre (there were also “bad boys”). However, I later learned that this photograph was taken while Day was in costume for playwright George Bernard Shaw’s “Devil’s Disciple” (1897). This postcard was published by Rafael Tuck as part of the “Celebrities of the Stage” series (no. T 790). Raphael Tuck and his wife started their photography business in 1866 in London. Their store sold pictures, greeting cards, and in time, postcards. Their success came from the sale of postcards during the late 1890’s and early 1900’s. In the early 1900’s the firm conducted postcard competitions for collectors of Tuck postcards. These competitions offered cash prizes and they were very popular. The winner of one of these competitions had a collection consisting of over twenty-five thousand cards. Three of Tuck’s four sons participated in the business. The company was devastated by German bombing during World War II. In 1959 the company merged with two other printing companies. (SOLD) 
This vintage real photo postcard features a priest and his noble spaniel dog. This portrait was photographed by Albert Hester who operated a studio in London, England. Hester is mentioned in the British Journal of Photography (1910) for participating in a London exhibition. The card was published by Societe Industrielle de Photograpie (SIP) of Rueil, France. SOLD
This vintage real photo postcard features two handsome uniformed World War I era soldiers posing for their portrait at a studio in Baltimore, Maryland. The photograph was taken by Martin D Trainor. His name is embossed near the bottom right hand corner of the image. The Maryland Historical Society has one or more of his photographs in their collection. The AZO stamp box indicates that the postcard was published between 1918-1930. (SOLD)
This vintage real photo postcard features a young woman and her bicycle. It is a studio photograph which explains why the woman and her bike are inside the house. (SOLD)
This vintage real photo postcard features an attractive woman in a lovely pose. She has a sophisticated appearance. She is well dressed and was likely a woman of means. A stamp on the reverse of the postcard indicates that it formerly was part of the Bill Hopkins Collection in London, England. Research reveals that Bill Hopkins was a London collector and dealer who collected a large number of postcard. He established and operated the Postcard Collector’s Center in Kensington. Hopkins personalized all of his cards with his hand stamp. Hopkins died sometime around 2014. This postcard is likely from the 1930’s. It is in very good condition (see scans).
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 