Valentine postcards, which were sold in Australia from 1906, were first produced by the Scottish firm 'Valentine and Sons Publishing Co Ltd'. After 1923 , they were produced by the similarly named  Australian company 'Valentine Publishing Company Pty Ltd'.

The original Scottish company, Valentine and Sons Publishing Co. Ltd., evolved from a printing business in Dundee that had existed in 1825. [Note 1] The firm became established in photography by way of appointments such as Photographer to the Queen in 1868. In 1878 they held a substantial catalogue of photographs for sale By 1886 the firm was employing about 100 people and an elaborate works had been built in Dundee. In 1898 the firm entered the postcard market, which had started to expand in the UK.

The business grew rapidly, and by 1900 there were almost 1000 employees and overseas branches were established in Canada, USA, South Africa and later, Australia. (For the date of the Australian Branch, see later). Production varied between one and two tons of postcards a day at that time! However, by 1908 American tariffs were introduced to restrict the import of postcards and a price war developed with German postcard publishers. Valentines responded with real photograph postcards, which were cheaper to produce. But business became slow and was drastically reduced with the outbreak of Word War I in 1914.

The Valentine View Registers

The company kept track of their negatives by numbering them and recording them in their View Registers, which were large, leather bound volumes. Valentine postcards show the negative number on the front of the card, beside the Valentine logo of JV in a circle. The View Registers have recently been placed online by the University of St. Andrews and are available online for general access. [Note 2].

The Australian Branch

Valentine and Sons cards were sold in Australia from 1906, but an official branch of the company appears not to have been established until 1911.  In that year a declaration was lodged with authorities giving notice that the Valentine and Sons Publishing Co. Ltd. “proposes carrying on business in Victoria”. [Note 3]

However, Valentine cards were being sold in Australia from 1906, as evidenced by postmark dates. At first, these were cards based on images supplied to Valentine & Sons in Scotland by H.W. Grattan of Launceston. These were registered in the  View Registers in 1905 with view numbers  in the range 48656 – 48689 and noted as coming from H.W. Grattan, 40 Brisbane Street, Launceston.  Other series, from  “2. Moonlight Series” up to “8. Crystoleum Series” were all published before or in1911. This raises the question of how Valentine & Sons in Australia was organised before 1911. Were individual photographers such as H.W. Grattan liaising directly with Valentine & Sons in UK, by sending them photos and receiving back postcards and retailing them? Or was somebody acting as an Australian agent?

Sometime before January 1910, a change was made in the way negatives of the overseas branches were numbered.  Each branch was allocated  a group of six digit numbers:

100,000    Canada

 200,000    USA

 300,000    Australia

 400,000    Canada including Yukon Territory

 500,000    South Africa

 600,000    Canada

In Canada [Note 4] the new system was introduced from 1906, but in Australia the date of introduction is not clear. The new numbers were in use for the “7. Sepia 1910 Series”, the earliest postmark date of which is January 1910, but they could have been introduced sometime after 1907.  This new numbering system appears to have been under the control of each of the overseas branches, as the University of St Andrews have no knowledge of the new system.

The Australian Branch became an independent Company

In 1923, Valentine & Sons sold off their overseas branches to the local management that had been operating them. In Australia, a new company was formed, The Valentine Publishing Co. Pty Ltd, owned by Percy George Watkins and John Faull Palamountain  It appears that Watkins bought the business personally from Valentine & Sons, and then immediately sold it to the new company. The document of sale [5]  said that Watkins had “for some time” been carrying on the business for the Valentine & Sons Publishing Company; Palamountain was apparently the warehousemen.  The publisher’s name given on the cards changed from “The Valentine & Sons Publishing Co. Ltd.” to “The Valentine Publishing Co. Pty Ltd” around the time that the “12. Real Photo M Series” was being published.  Either company name appears on cards of this series, suggesting the change of ownership occurred while the series was being released. Even though the ownership had changed, the close relationship with Valentine & Sons in the UK continued, with many of the cards sold by Valentine Publishing in Australia being printed in the UK. Even up to 1955 cards were still being printed in UK.

The company continued to advertise for warehouse and sales staff at their long-term ofice and warehouse at 214 Queen Street, Melbourne until 1953.  One of their last advertisements was for a girl for tinting and colouring of photographs; perhaps this was for the “18. Real Photo 1955 Series” which includes some tinted cards.

The demise of Valentine Publishing Co.

Prior to 1952, the company operated chiefly as a manufacturer, distributor and wholesaler of "pictorial souvenirs" (postcards) and greetings cards.  In 1952 new offices and a manufacturing plant of 15,000 square feet were built in Caulfield to commence local publishing of greeting cards from designs created in the USA and Scotland.  In 1959 a franchise agreement was negotiated with the American company Norcross and production of Norcross greetings cards increased substantially. In the late 1960s, with greetings cards dominating the business,  the company moved again to offices and production facilities in North Clayton [Note 6]. 

In 1972 Textron of America took over the business by purchasing Valentine Holdings limited which was by then the parent company of the Valentine Publishing Company. Textron also took over John Sands and changed its name to Valentine Sands. In turn, in 1996, Valentine Sands was taken over by the giant American company American Greetings. Today cards are produced under the John Sands brand, but the Valentine name has disappeared.

The Series of Valentine postcards

Valentine cards of Tasmania fall into the series listed in the table below. (This is mainly in chronological order, but the last in the list is out of order). The ‘Year Published’ was determined from postmark dates, sometimes based on only a few cards, so more examples may move  the date back a few years. Up to the First World War, which started in 1914, the cards were printed in UK. It was not until the “12. Real Photo M Series” that some cards were produced in Australia. From then on they were mainly printed in Australia, with the surprising exception of the “18. Real Photo 1955 Series” which, on the back, say printed in UK.

Notes

1. Jackson, P. 2010, Valentine & Sons Dates. University of St. Andrews Archives.

2. Search for University of St. Andrews Valentine View Registers

3. Declaration of James Edward Mathais made 5 October 1911 (Retrieved from Public Records Office of Victoria file number vprs934p0.64.690)

4. Email of 6 January 2017 from Andrew Cunningham, Toronto Postcard Club

5. Agreement for sale of business  etc between Percy George Watkins and John Faull Palamountain dated 2 November 1923. (Retrieved from Public Records Office of Victoria  vprs932p1.209.9462.)

6.  Valentine Holdings Limited. Prospectus dated 17 November 1965. (Retrieved from Public Records Office of Victoria file number vprs 932p1.3991.64486.)