Brazos Past: Leather postcards from early 20th century present unique slices of life
By Terri Jo Ryan
Special to the Tribune-Herald
Among the oddities of the Texas Collection at Baylor University — at least to those accustomed to seeing postcards made of paper or photo stock — are postal missives sent on pieces of rawhide.
“Try This on Your Piano” was an advertising slogan printed on many brands of sheet music in the 1900s. It was a running gag to depict romancing couples expressing their ardor while seated atop the parlor instrument.
Images courtesy of the Campbell-Strong Collection, housed at the Texas Collection at Baylor University
“Teddy Bears,” named after President Theodore Roosevelt, who served from 1901-09, were all the rage in the first decade of the 20th century and were all-purpose characters for cartoonists.
Images courtesy of the Campbell-Strong Collection, housed at the Texas Collection at Baylor University
These leather postcards were a fad from about 1900 until 1909, when they were banned by the U.S. Postal Service because of the damage they inflicted on sorting machinery.
John Wilson, Texas Collection director, said they are among his favorite items in the collection for their rarity and the unique “slice of life” they present for their time.
For example, the majority of the leather postcards in the Waco archive come from the family papers of the Campbell-Strong Collection. Sisters Marybell and Mildred Campbell — daughters of a doctor who worked in Brookston — in their courtship days collected many such cards from their beaus.
Generally made from deerskin, leather postcards were decorated with the tip of a hot implement in a process called pyrography (fire-writing) and was a popular pursuit for middle-class young women.
The process was also used on wood, and novelty wooden postcards were produced.
In some cases, color was applied after the design was burned into the leather.
A popular way of making use of leather postcards was to collect them and lace them together to construct a pillow cover.
Some postcards were produced with pre-punched holes along the edge just to make sewing easier.
The holes on the outside edges were laced with long strings of rawhide to form a fringe.
The majority of leather cards are comical images. But collectors will find the cards that hold the greatest pop culture value relate either to the political figures of the day, or the iconic “Teddy Bear,” named after President Theodore Roosevelt. One of the more prolific illustrators was W.S. Heal.
Additional sources: OldPostCards.com, PostCardCollector.org
Above are samples of cards from the collection of Mildred and Marybell Campbell, of Chicota, daughters of Brookston physician John Foster Campbell (1853-1925) and who had many suitors.
Images courtesy of the Campbell-Strong Collection, housed at the Texas Collection at Baylor University
Even though it was the early 20th century, the agrarian American roots of the 19th century are evident in these leather-tooled postcards, which refer to farm animals such as pigs, donkeys and roosters.
Images courtesy of the Campbell-Strong Collection, housed at the Texas Collection at Baylor University
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