I don't claim to know enough about them all to disentangle what's what. But here are some notes about the publishers I have come across in the few books about McGill and approximate dates based on those cards I have (or seen) that have been postally used.
Thanks to Bernard Crossley for additional information on this confusing issue.
Publishers in the UK
Great Eastern Railway Co.
In 1905 they published a set of set cards by McGill called "Watering Places"
Pictorial Postcard Co
44 Moor Lane, London
8 / 15 Red Lion Square, London WC
These cards are numbered 'E.S.' which usually stands for 'Empire Series' which I have on several cards although I have seen it suggested that it stands for 'Eclypse Series'.
For some reason cards early on were not given individual numbers, for example I have four different cards with the number '111' and five cards all with the number '113'.
Many of the 'E.S.' designs (e.g. the "Fathers box of tools" series) seem to have been copied and published by 'E.L.P. Co' (East London Printing Co., Whitechapel Road, London). Whether they were copied by other artists (which is more likely) or redrawn by McGill himself is not certain but they are unsigned. It makes for an interesting parallel collection.
Originally owned by Max Honnest, the company was taken over by one of the salesmen, Percy Hutson and his brother in 1908. They carried on the business as Hutson Brothers (see below) retaining the services of Donald McGill.
I have one card postmarked 1909 by this publisher in the "Coronation" Series
Published McGill's "Adventures of Nosey Parker" series of cards in 1907. These were unsigned.
1908 - 1910
Set up by the Hutson brothers who had bought the stock, goodwill and furniture from the Pictorial Postcard Company when it went into liquidation in 1908.
Eyre & Spottiswoode
Fetter Lane, London EC
c1907 - 1908
McGill produced two series of cards(as far as I know) on a freelance basis for Eyre & Spottiswoode. Six cards with a cricket theme and six cards with a boating theme.
Corona Publishing Co.
44 Abingdon Street, Blackpool
E.R.S.
No details on this publisherRegent Publishing Co.
310 Euston Road, London NW
Hutson Bros. (aka Hudson Bros.)
15 Red Lion Square, London WC
Set up by the Hutson brothers who had bought the stock, goodwill and furniture from the Pictorial Postcard Company when it went into liquidation in 1908.
These cards are labelled 'H.B. Series'. Some are in a numbered sequence, others have no number. About 350 cards by McGill were published. They seem to have been in circulation up until 1920.
HB cards continued to be published well into the 1930s but there were no more by McGill.
They appear to have republished Hutson Bros. 'HB' designs.
1911
Identified as MPPC Co. Ldn. on the cards which were published as the 'Midland' series
Republished Hutson Bros. 'HB' designs. May have been connected to R.P.K. and AR-P-KO.
1910 - 1914
Earliest cards are numbered from '1' with just numerals.
Later cards are numbered from 'A1, A2, A3 etc.'
Many were published as part of the 'Kismet Series'. There were also a number of smaller runs of particular series such as 'Seaside Series', 'Cricket Series', 'Seaside Kiddies', 'Art Comic Xmas', 'Our Pets', 'Our Terriers' and 'Art Cat' to name a few.
Originally these cards were printed in Saxony, Bavaria and Holland. When the First World War broke out many of these cards were in circulation. Those printed in Saxony and Bavaria often had their origins overprinted or scratched out during the war years.
There are many cards from this period that do not give a publisher's name but look very like the Joseph Asher cards, being 'Printed in Saxony' and having numbers starting with 'A'. Are they Asher or not?
The "J A & Co" interlocking initials logo is often the only identification on the reverse which leads some dealers to list them as by "A J & Co".
Some early cards are unsigned.
It's estimated that McGill drew approximately 2400 designs for Joseph Asher & Co.
Republished Joseph Asher & Co. cards.
No other details available.
Republished Joseph Asher & Co. cards.
No other details available.
McGill may have produced some cards for Philco on a freelance basis around 1910.
Republished many Inter-Art Co. cards in the 1920s. These cards had the same number as the Inter-Art Co. original and in the same font. The reverse also included 'British Throughout. Comic Series' which turns up on some anonymous Inter-Art Co. reprints in the early 1930s.
I have two examples from this publisher. One of them is unsigned, is in the "Orthochrome" Series and postmarked 1914. The other is a reprint of an Inter-Art Co. card (No. 5550 - from c.1926) and is in the "Carbontona" Series but the printing on the reverse is very poor and this card seems a bit of an oddment, perhaps an illegal printing?
1925(?) - c. 1935(?)
A few cards have the publisher's name in full but most just have 'J.T. & Co' printed on them.
Some cards are numbered e.g. C08, but this system wasn't adhered to as many cards do not have numbers at all, the same card was published with a number and without.
Some later cards are published as part of the 'Pioneer Series'.
Postmarked versions are dated late 1920s and early 1930s.
Republished many Inter-Art Co. designs.
No other details available.
1914 - 1931
Morris & Co., Liverpool
Unknown number of cards. Those I've seen have all been reprints of 'HB' cards and date from around 1910.J F Lovell, Boscombe
Unknown number of cards. Those I've seen have all been reprints of 'HB' cards and date from around 1910.R.P.K. Series / AR-P-KO Series
I am unsure if these are from the same publisher or what the publisher's name is. I only have a few cards in these series, one of which is postmarked 1913, so they are obviously pre-World War 1 and probably one of the many pieces of freelance work by McGill.They appear to have republished Hutson Bros. 'HB' designs.
Midland Pictorial Postcard Company
77 Finsbury Pavement, London EC
8-9 Aldermanbury Postern, London
Identified as MPPC Co. Ldn. on the cards which were published as the 'Midland' series
Republished Hutson Bros. 'HB' designs. May have been connected to R.P.K. and AR-P-KO.
Joseph Asher & Co
14 Cheapside, London
22 Paternoster Row, London
3 and 4 Ivy Lane, London, E.C.
22 Paternoster Row, London
3 and 4 Ivy Lane, London, E.C.
Earliest cards are numbered from '1' with just numerals.
Later cards are numbered from 'A1, A2, A3 etc.'
Many were published as part of the 'Kismet Series'. There were also a number of smaller runs of particular series such as 'Seaside Series', 'Cricket Series', 'Seaside Kiddies', 'Art Comic Xmas', 'Our Pets', 'Our Terriers' and 'Art Cat' to name a few.
Originally these cards were printed in Saxony, Bavaria and Holland. When the First World War broke out many of these cards were in circulation. Those printed in Saxony and Bavaria often had their origins overprinted or scratched out during the war years.
There are many cards from this period that do not give a publisher's name but look very like the Joseph Asher cards, being 'Printed in Saxony' and having numbers starting with 'A'. Are they Asher or not?
The "J A & Co" interlocking initials logo is often the only identification on the reverse which leads some dealers to list them as by "A J & Co".
Some early cards are unsigned.
It's estimated that McGill drew approximately 2400 designs for Joseph Asher & Co.
SD
Published as the 'Go Well Series'. Examples dated 1915 and 1916MN
No details available. One example dated 1922MW
No details available. Three examples, one dated 1932Dock's Series
No details available, apart from being based in Blackpool. One undated card, possibly early 1920s.Dok's Comics
Based in Blackpool. Are they related to the other Dock's?Newman Bros.
Based in Glasgow.Republished Joseph Asher & Co. cards.
No other details available.
Mortimer Bros.
London ECRepublished Joseph Asher & Co. cards.
No other details available.
Philco Publishing Co.
Holborn Place, London WCMcGill may have produced some cards for Philco on a freelance basis around 1910.
Republished many Inter-Art Co. cards in the 1920s. These cards had the same number as the Inter-Art Co. original and in the same font. The reverse also included 'British Throughout. Comic Series' which turns up on some anonymous Inter-Art Co. reprints in the early 1930s.
A & G Taylor
9 Long Lane, Aldergate Street, London E.C.I have two examples from this publisher. One of them is unsigned, is in the "Orthochrome" Series and postmarked 1914. The other is a reprint of an Inter-Art Co. card (No. 5550 - from c.1926) and is in the "Carbontona" Series but the printing on the reverse is very poor and this card seems a bit of an oddment, perhaps an illegal printing?
John Thridgould & Co
14-22 Sidney Street, Commercial Road, London E1
A few cards have the publisher's name in full but most just have 'J.T. & Co' printed on them.
Some cards are numbered e.g. C08, but this system wasn't adhered to as many cards do not have numbers at all, the same card was published with a number and without.
Some later cards are published as part of the 'Pioneer Series'.
Postmarked versions are dated late 1920s and early 1930s.
Republished many Inter-Art Co. designs.
H L & Co
No numbering system. Seem to be poor quality printings - thin paper, flat colours.No other details available.
E. Marks
Marks was a prolific publisher of comic postcards usually under the "Comicard" imprint. It's unknown how many designs McGill did for him. The cards I have seen are not part of Marks' main series but are identified with the initials "E.M." on the reverse.Inter-Art Co.
Southampton House, 317 High Holborn, London
6 - 7 Red Lion Square, London
(Warehouse) Florence House, Barnes, London, S.W.
The company was formed in 1909 by Robert and Louisa McCrum.
The majority of the McGill cards were published as part of the 'Comique' series, although some were part of the 'Artistique' series. Some later cards were 'Comique-Kaygee' or 'Kay-Gee'.
During World War One there were many different short-run series produced. Some of the cards in these series were reprinted later with the same number but as 'Comique' series cards.
Many cards are unsigned, especially later ones.
Many have dual-language captions - English with French being the most common. Usually the captions are a translation of the original English although some have an alternate French caption. Who wrote those? There are some with only French captions.
Some cards have been printed with one or more different captions which makes collecting even more interesting!
The only identifying text on the reverse of these cards is ' British Throughout. Comic Series' and, usually, a four digit number.
I have come across several examples of these cards which have the same design but one is published by 'Inter-Art Co.' and the other is 'British Throughout', the number is the same on each and is printed in the same font and in exactly the same place as the 'Inter-Art Co.' version.
The dates on the examples I have seem to begin in 1932 and continue through the 1930s. I think these are reprints of Inter-Art cards by Inter-Art or, possibly, by some other company.
No identifying text on the reverse. Numbers are two-digit or three digit and proceeded by "No.".
Visually they look very like XL Series cards.
There are cards with languages other than French - Dutch, German, Russian, Czech for example. But were they published with McGill's and his publishers consent?
The captions on foreign language cards are not necessarily direct translations of the original English caption.
Bamforths of Holmfirth set up in partnership with the Inter-Art Co. in the 1920s to publish cards in the USA. McGill's cards were included in this deal. There doesn't seem to be any correlation in the numbering system used between the British and American cards. In fact, some of the cards McGill had published by Bamforth USA weren't even published by Inter-Art, some of them had been previously published by Wilson Bros (in their XL Series)!
The Bamforth USA cards were divided into differently named series, such as Vacation Comic, Art Comic, Matrimonial Comic, Touring Comic and Scotch Comic to name a few.
The majority of the McGill cards were published as part of the 'Comique' series, although some were part of the 'Artistique' series. Some later cards were 'Comique-Kaygee' or 'Kay-Gee'.
During World War One there were many different short-run series produced. Some of the cards in these series were reprinted later with the same number but as 'Comique' series cards.
Many cards are unsigned, especially later ones.
Many have dual-language captions - English with French being the most common. Usually the captions are a translation of the original English although some have an alternate French caption. Who wrote those? There are some with only French captions.
Some cards have been printed with one or more different captions which makes collecting even more interesting!
What's even more confusing is that some runs of numbers were duplicated, so you have different cards with the same number!
McGill was incredibly prolific during this time and a figure of 3,670 different designs for Inter-Art Co. was quoted in Elfreda Buckland's book "The World of Donald McGill". So far I have managed to list about 4,200 cards which includes alternate and foreign language captions.
1919 - 1935(?)
Also known as Woolstone-Barton.
A number of series were published; 'Milton Series', 'Milton Comic Series' or 'Milton Series Renowned'. Who knows what John Milton would have thought of his image being used on the reverse of these cards!
All of the later cards were reprints of Inter-Art Co. designs. The numbers were changed in most cases although I have a few examples which show the Woolstone card having '1' added to the beginning of the original Inter-Art Co. number.
1929(?) - 1935(?)
McGill was incredibly prolific during this time and a figure of 3,670 different designs for Inter-Art Co. was quoted in Elfreda Buckland's book "The World of Donald McGill". So far I have managed to list about 4,200 cards which includes alternate and foreign language captions.
Woolstone Bros
14 Chapel Street, Milton Street, London EC
29-30 Newbury Street, Aldersgate Street, London EC
Also known as Woolstone-Barton.
A number of series were published; 'Milton Series', 'Milton Comic Series' or 'Milton Series Renowned'. Who knows what John Milton would have thought of his image being used on the reverse of these cards!
All of the later cards were reprints of Inter-Art Co. designs. The numbers were changed in most cases although I have a few examples which show the Woolstone card having '1' added to the beginning of the original Inter-Art Co. number.
Wilson Bros
26 Commercial Road, London
80 Great Eastern Street, London EC2
Little is known about this company, even Anthony Byatt failed to list it in his 'Picture Postcards and their Publishers'.
Early designs are numbered 'W.B.',
Later designs were published as 'XL Series'.
A large proportion of these 'XL' designs were published with two different captions. In most cases this is indicated in the card number with an added 'R', 'A' or 'V', although I have an example of one card which was published twice with different captions but has the same number with no additional letter (just to add to the confusion!)
A later set of designs were published with XL "Cheerful" Series on the reverse.
About 400 'XL Series' cards were published. I'm unsure if that is number of designs or number of captions.
I have one McGill card by Humoresque dated 1938.
Robert McCrumb owned Inter-Art Co., so is this some separate enterprise?
Published as 'B.B.'
Unknown dates although the examples I have are all postmarked in the late 1940s. Republished many of the later Inter-Art Co. designs, some of which have the same number.
1936 - 1962
Early cards were printed as 'New Donald McGill Comics'. Later cards had the publisher name and address added. Almost all D. Constance's output were McGill designs apart from some by Stocker Shaw and possibly a few others by unknown artist(s).
There were approximately 2400 cards published.
Many of these cards were reprinted without publisher details but just have the original Constance number on the reverse.
Early designs are numbered 'W.B.',
Later designs were published as 'XL Series'.
A large proportion of these 'XL' designs were published with two different captions. In most cases this is indicated in the card number with an added 'R', 'A' or 'V', although I have an example of one card which was published twice with different captions but has the same number with no additional letter (just to add to the confusion!)
A later set of designs were published with XL "Cheerful" Series on the reverse.
About 400 'XL Series' cards were published. I'm unsure if that is number of designs or number of captions.
Humoresque
The publisher of this series is unknown.I have one McGill card by Humoresque dated 1938.
McCrum Co
Published in the 'Macco Series'. Unknown dates but I have one postmarked example for 1939.Robert McCrumb owned Inter-Art Co., so is this some separate enterprise?
Birn Bros
Bunhill Row, London EC
New Bond Street, London
Unknown dates although the examples I have are all postmarked in the late 1940s. Republished many of the later Inter-Art Co. designs, some of which have the same number.
D. Constance Ltd.
4A Ivy Lane, Paternoster Row, London EC4
3-4 Ivy Lane, Paternoster Row, London EC4
22 Christchurch Road, London SW2
Early cards were printed as 'New Donald McGill Comics'. Later cards had the publisher name and address added. Almost all D. Constance's output were McGill designs apart from some by Stocker Shaw and possibly a few others by unknown artist(s).
There were approximately 2400 cards published.
Many of these cards were reprinted without publisher details but just have the original Constance number on the reverse.
M Miller & Co. Ltd
Blackpool
1940s (?)
I have one example posted in 1942 of a D. Constance Ltd. card that has 'M. Miller & Co. Ltd. Publishers Blackpool' printed vertically along the reverse dividing line.
Unknown UK Publisher #1
1932(?) - 19??The only identifying text on the reverse of these cards is ' British Throughout. Comic Series' and, usually, a four digit number.
I have come across several examples of these cards which have the same design but one is published by 'Inter-Art Co.' and the other is 'British Throughout', the number is the same on each and is printed in the same font and in exactly the same place as the 'Inter-Art Co.' version.
The dates on the examples I have seem to begin in 1932 and continue through the 1930s. I think these are reprints of Inter-Art cards by Inter-Art or, possibly, by some other company.
Unknown UK Publisher #2
1940s(?)
The only identifying text on the reverse of these cards is 'Printed in England' and a four digit number.
Unknown UK Publisher #3
c. 1912
The only identifying text on the reverse of these cards is 'Printed in Great Britain' and a three or four digit number.
Unknown UK Publisher #4
1936(?) - 1940s(?)
The only identifying text on the reverse of these cards is 'Made in Great Britain' and a four digit number.
Unknown UK Publisher #5
1930s(?)
No identifying text on the reverse. Numbers are two-digit or three digit and proceeded by "No.".
Visually they look very like XL Series cards.
Foreign Publishers
Many of the Inter-Art Co. cards were printed with dual captions, usually English and French. This was begun during the First World War and continued into the 1920s. Some look like they were printed with two languages in one run while others look to be quite crudely over-printed with the second language. These appear to be the only cards that had the two languages on one card. There are many examples of Inter-Art Co. cards having only French captions.There are cards with languages other than French - Dutch, German, Russian, Czech for example. But were they published with McGill's and his publishers consent?
The captions on foreign language cards are not necessarily direct translations of the original English caption.
Bamforth USA
Many people who know little about the origins of postcards often think Bamforth and McGill are the same thing. As far as I know McGill never had any of his cards published by Bamforths in the UK. However in the USA it was a different matter.Bamforths of Holmfirth set up in partnership with the Inter-Art Co. in the 1920s to publish cards in the USA. McGill's cards were included in this deal. There doesn't seem to be any correlation in the numbering system used between the British and American cards. In fact, some of the cards McGill had published by Bamforth USA weren't even published by Inter-Art, some of them had been previously published by Wilson Bros (in their XL Series)!
The Bamforth USA cards were divided into differently named series, such as Vacation Comic, Art Comic, Matrimonial Comic, Touring Comic and Scotch Comic to name a few.
The print of these US cards seems inferior to their UK counterparts, they are not as crisp and the colours are flatter.
Also printed on reverse is "Imprime en Angleterre", the "IA&Co" monogram and the Florence House address of Inter-Art Co.
Numbering appears to be the same as for Inter-Art Co. Published cards seem to be between the number range of 4230 to 4290.
Was Gustave Jacob a 'publisher' or just a 'seller' of postcards. A privileged seller at that if his name replaced that of Inter-Art Co.
A South African company that published some of McGill's Constance cards in their "Funnies" series
Reverse is very similar to the UK cards but has the following printed: "D. Constance Ltd., Copyright Sole Publishers of All New Donald McGill Comics Kimble Production Printed in South Africa"
1907 - 1956
I have one example from this prolific US company. It uses the image from the unsigned Inter-Art Co. No. 6324 card but changes the caption and gives the card a thick blue border at the top and bottom.
Gustave Jacob
11 Rue Des Petites Ecuries, ParisAlso printed on reverse is "Imprime en Angleterre", the "IA&Co" monogram and the Florence House address of Inter-Art Co.
Numbering appears to be the same as for Inter-Art Co. Published cards seem to be between the number range of 4230 to 4290.
Was Gustave Jacob a 'publisher' or just a 'seller' of postcards. A privileged seller at that if his name replaced that of Inter-Art Co.
A.R. & Co. I.B.
Inter-Art Co. cards with German captions published in Austria, Germany and Switzerland.I.N.S.
Based in Holland and published cards with Dutch captions.Artco
Distributors and Publishers (PTY.) Ltd. 265 Umbilo Road, DurbanA South African company that published some of McGill's Constance cards in their "Funnies" series
Kimble Production
A company in South Africa that printed some of McGill's Constance cards. It is unknown how many different titles were published.Reverse is very similar to the UK cards but has the following printed: "D. Constance Ltd., Copyright Sole Publishers of All New Donald McGill Comics Kimble Production Printed in South Africa"
E.C. Kropp Co.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin1907 - 1956
I have one example from this prolific US company. It uses the image from the unsigned Inter-Art Co. No. 6324 card but changes the caption and gives the card a thick blue border at the top and bottom.
WHAT CONNECTION WITH SOLE PUBLISHERS D C LONDON EC4
ReplyDelete'DC' is D. Constance Ltd. The 'sole' in this instance means the 'only' publishers i.e. New Donald McGill postcards are only published by D. Constance Ltd.
ReplyDelete