This is a group of unrelated postcards that were ordered from the printers as one-offs. Normally, Walch’s ordered a group of 12 to 36 cards at once, but in a few cases they ordered prints of a single card.
1. Greetings from Hobart with Tasmanian Views
This is a multiview photographic print postcard incorporating 10 Tasmanian views.
Date Published: Ordered from the printer by letter dated Sept 11, 1906. Advertised for sale in Walch’s Literary Intelligencer of December, 1906.
Printing: This is a real photograph produced by the Rotary Photo Co using the traditional wet photographic process on a high speed rotary system.
Identification: Walch’s name does not appear anywhere on the card. The back layout is as illustrated, with the heading “Post Card – Tasmania”, but no printer or publisher is mentioned.
History of the card:
On Sept 11, 1906, Walch’s London agent, Herbert Bishop, wrote to the Rotary Photo Co. as follows:
We send you 10 original photos for a post card to be arranged similar to your “Greetings from London” no. 5210. Let the Post Office, Hobart, fill the place of the circle coat of arms and letter “Greetings from Hobart”. Please draw in a clock each side of the tower of the Post Office – see our coloured post card of the Post Office. Arrange the photos the best way you can.
On the address side please print:
The card not to be supplied to any other firm.
Price arranged to be 24/- per thou. usual terms.
List of photographs:
The Post Office (to have clock drawn in)
Hobart from Harbour
Eaglehawk Neck
Strahan West Coast
Fern Tree Bower
Cape Raoul
Rocking Stone
Salmon Pond
Hobart Waterworks
Mount Wellington
Please submit a proof and give us delivery as quickly as possible.
Reference
Archives Office of Tasmania NS 2870/1/1 Copies of invoices and orders to suppliers in England pp. 419, 420.
2. The Post Office, Hobart – 1906 Colour Printing
In 1906, cards of the Hobart Post Office were very good sellers; the building had been under construction since 1901, and was opened to the public in September 1905. When Series G was ordered in May 1906, the printer was requested to insert the Post Office view into the printing plate twice, to give 6,000 cards, instead of the usual 3,000. But the printer was unable to do this, as he said he did not have the original print or negative. So six months later, in September 1906, Walch's placed an order for 3,000 copies of a one-off printing of the Post Office card.
Date Published: Cards were ordered by letter from the London agent dated 4 Sept 1906.
Printing: Printed by photolithography by C.G. Röder, Leipzig, Germany. The printers number on the card is 96113.
Identification: The printer’s number 96113 uniquely identifies the card. But note the unusual back layout for a Walch card – Walch’s imprint does not appear at all, as per instructions to the printer (see below).
History of the card
Herbert Bishop, Walch’s London agent, wrote to C.G. Röder on 4 September, 1906, thus:
We send you a plain silver print photograph of “Post Office Hobart” and will you please draw in a clock on each side of the tower as you did before. Please print 3,000 post cards in your Auto Substitute process the view to cover the whole of the card. The post card to be the usual measurements.
The name of the view to be printed in small type on the view – and the best position seems to be on the left hand top of the card but we leave this to you – The Post Office, Hobart. On the address side please print:
Reference
Archives Office of Tasmania NS 2870/1/1 Copies of invoices and orders to suppliers in England pp. 415.
3. G.P. Fitzgerald & Co. postcard
This is a postcard specially printed for G.P. Fitzgerald & Co of Collins Street, Hobart. Walch’s arranged the printing by their usual printer, C.G. Röder in Leipzig, Germany.
Date Published: The printing was requested on 6 September, 1906 and proofs corrected on 28 September 1906. If Fitzgerald’s started using the cards as soon as they were received in Tasmania, they would have been in circulation about the beginning of 1907.
Identification: This is numbered on the back 96096.
Printing: Printed by photolithography by C.G. Röder, Leipzig, Germany.
History of the card
On 4th September, 1906, Walch’s London agent wrote to the printer C.G. Röder in Leipzig, Germany, thus:
We send you a plain silver print original photograph of the business premised of G.P. Fitzgerald & Co. We also send you an Architect’s Drawing coloured in. If you draw in the flags for the post card the building would have to be reduced in height so we think that you had better omit the flags as in the photograph.
The red brickwork to be about the colour of the ribbon attached to the drawing. Please arrange for the firm’s full name to appear on the fascia. You will see by the original photograph that the electric lamps block up the lettering.
Please print 5,000 post cards in your Autochrome Substitute process.
On the address side please print:
.
Please let the view cover the whole of the card.
On 28th September, 1906, Bishop wrote to the printer again, in his truly pedantic style:
We thank you for the proof of the single post card G.P. Fitzgerald & Co which does very well, but please notice that you have drawn in the letter C instead of G in Fitzgerald. On the address side you have not followed our wording see corrected proof herewith. A full stop is wanted after “Post Card”.
Will you please deliver this card as soon as you possibly can & all the cards on order.
Reference
Archives Office of Tasmania NS 2870/1/1 Copies of invoices and orders to suppliers in England pp. 414, 427.
4. General Post Office, Hobart, Tasmania (1904 B&W printing)
Construction of the Hobart General Post Office began in 1901, and it was opened to the public in September, 1905. The clock did not become operational until 22 June, 1906.
The card shown is from a special printing of only this design, done in 1904. This was before the building was completed and before the clock was installed; there is no clock face visible in the tower. In format, the card differs from all other Walch cards in having a rectangular image on the front allowing some white space on the right side. The back design is the same as the 1904 Wide Series, but this card does not belong to that series; the contents of that series were listed in Walchs Literary Intelligencer, and this card is not amount them.
The printing is by halftone, and was very likely done in Walchs’ Hobart printery, which had been operational since 1900. There is no correspondence with the London agent about this card, reinforcing the view that it was printed in Hobart. The photographer is identified on the card as Sirius, a pseudonym of Charles Gruncell. Walchs later published quite a few cards of the Post Office, but they were not produced from this photograph. In this photograph the horse on the bottom right is partly hidden by the power pole, but later photographs are taken from a different angle and show the horse to the right of the pole. Compare the image on this card with the later Walchs Special “The Post Office Hobart” published in 1906.
Date published: Walchs Literary Intelligencer of September, 1904 announced this card under the heading “New Post Card this Day, The new Post Office from Franklin Square, price one penny”. The example shown here is dated 7th November 1904.
Identification: The card has the usual back of a Walch undivided back card, but no specific publisher’s imprint.
Printing: Printed in halftone, very likely printed in Walchs own Hobart print shop.
