Brief Description
This postcard was made by the Sanborn Souvenir Co. sometime during the 1950s. The image shows the Continental Divide signs at the top of Loveland Pass in Colorado. Harold Sanborn is well-known for his real photo postcards, mostly created during the first half of the 1900s. In the second half of the century, his company started to use printers such as Dexter Press for color printing and production.
Info
- Date: Circa Early 1950s
- Photographer: Harold Sanborn (presumed)
- Addt'l Credits: Dexter Press
- Medium: Postcard
- Size: 5 1/2" x 3 3/8"
- ID: CL-81407
- Acquisition Date: Feb. 2024
- Repository: Coloradotopia Archives
Scanned with basic cropping.
There are no known copyrights on the postcard’s image.
Image Dating Comments
This postcard can be dated to sometime between 1948 and 1957. This is known because this archive has a photo from 1948 showing the previous signs, and the next sign was in place by late 1957. The erosion and exposed rocks in the background suggest this image was captured after 1952, likely very close to 1955.
Backside
Comments & Discussion
This postcard was printed using a much different method than the real photo postcards that Harold Sanborn was best known for. The color postcard shown here is made up of lots of tiny dots. This is usually a telltale sign of a lithographic printing process. You likely won’t notice this with a naked eye, but a magnifying glass or scanner will quickly reveal the lack of detail and the dotted patterns. The full scan below was done separately from the main image at the top of the page, and the dots can be seen appearing in this scan. This one was scanned at only 300 DPI.
Here is what it looks like if you scan this at 1200 DPI. The scan below shows the dotted pattern more prominently.
Condition, Aging & Authenticity: The surface has no major scratches or cracking. There are no markings on the backside. One corner looks like it may have been re-trimmed by hand. There is very mild discoloration of the backside that is only visible under good light.
About the Coloradotopia Archives. The Coloradotopia archives hold a large collection of historical images that document Colorado’s auto history in the mountains. You can read more about the Coloradotopia archive project here.
