{"product_id":"antique-limited-edition-niagara-falls-postcard-embellished-100","title":"Antique 1900s Taber Bas Relief Niagara Falls Postcard 🌊 Glitter Embellished, Warwick Bros Toronto","description":"\u003ch2\u003eWhat Two Fires Stand Behind This Card? 🌊 Antique 1900s Taber Bas Relief Niagara Falls Postcard, Warwick Bros, Toronto\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSize:\u003c\/strong\u003e 5 1\/2\" x 3 1\/2\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"max-width:315px;margin:0 auto 20px;\"\u003e\u003cdiv style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:177.78%;height:0;overflow:hidden;\"\u003e\u003ciframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yQ2lt0r5BSE\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer;autoplay;clipboard-write;encrypted-media;gyroscope;picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cp\u003e🌊 \u003cstrong\u003eTwo fires stand behind this little card, and neither of them is on it.\u003c\/strong\u003e The front is signed \u003cstrong\u003eTABER BAS RELIEF Co.\u003c\/strong\u003e and captioned \u003cem\u003eAMERICAN FALLS, NIAGARA FROM BELOW\u003c\/em\u003e; the back is a \u003cstrong\u003eCanadian Souvenir Post Card\u003c\/strong\u003e from \u003cstrong\u003eWarwick Bro’s \u0026amp; Rutter, Limited, Publishers, Toronto\u003c\/strong\u003e. The photographer whose process made the image lost every negative he owned in the San Francisco earthquake and fire; the Toronto printing house whose name is on the back lost its building in the Toronto fire of 1904. The card outlived both.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\n\u003ch2\u003e🧷 Details\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eApprox. \u003cstrong\u003e5 1\/2\" x 3 1\/2\"\u003c\/strong\u003e ~\u003cbr\u003e\nDivided-back souvenir postcard, unposted — no stamp, no message, no address\u003cbr\u003e\nHand-applied glitter picked out along the falling water, still bright\u003cbr\u003e\nPrinted on the front: \u003cem\u003eTABER BAS RELIEF Co.\u003c\/em\u003e · \u003cem\u003eAMERICAN FALLS, NIAGARA FROM BELOW\u003c\/em\u003e · \u003cem\u003e456 COPYRIGHT\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nPrinted on the back: \u003cem\u003eCANADIAN SOUVENIR POST CARD\u003c\/em\u003e · \u003cem\u003eTHIS SPACE FOR CORRESPONDENCE\u003c\/em\u003e \/ \u003cem\u003eTHIS SPACE FOR ADDRESS ONLY\u003c\/em\u003e · \u003cem\u003eWarwick Bro’s \u0026amp; Rutter, Limited, Publishers, Toronto\u003c\/em\u003e · a postage box reading \u003cem\u003eONE CENT FOR CANADA AND U.S. \/ TWO CENTS FOR ABROAD\u003c\/em\u003e · and along the right edge, \u003cem\u003eTABER PAT. Nos. 21422–95 \u0026amp; 17225–96\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003e📅 What dates it — and what does not\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe two numbers on the right edge are the thing people misread. They are \u003cstrong\u003epatent numbers\u003c\/strong\u003e for Taber’s bas-relief process, each carrying the year it was taken out — 95 and 96. They date the \u003cem\u003eprocess\u003c\/em\u003e, not the card, the same way a “since 1878” line dates a company rather than a label.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat does date the card is its back. This is a \u003cstrong\u003edivided back\u003c\/strong\u003e — a printed vertical rule splitting correspondence from address — which the Canadian post office only permitted from the end of \u003cstrong\u003e1903\u003c\/strong\u003e. And the Toronto house named on it published picture postcards between \u003cstrong\u003e1903 and 1912\u003c\/strong\u003e, some 7,500 different cards in that window. Both ends agree: this sheet is Edwardian, not Victorian.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003e📷 Isaiah West Taber and the bas-relief process\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIsaiah West Taber (1830–1912)\u003c\/strong\u003e ran one of the best-known photographic studios in San Francisco. His \u003cstrong\u003ebas-relief\u003c\/strong\u003e process — patented in the mid-1890s, with a \u003cstrong\u003eTaber Bas-Relief Photographic Syndicate\u003c\/strong\u003e operating out of San Francisco and a limited company of the same name incorporated in Britain in \u003cstrong\u003e1896\u003c\/strong\u003e — printed a photograph so that the subject appeared to stand slightly proud of the paper, a soft sculptural relief rather than a flat picture. Held at an angle, this Niagara does exactly that: the water reads as a raised sheet coming off the card.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn \u003cstrong\u003e18 April 1906\u003c\/strong\u003e the San Francisco earthquake and the fire that followed destroyed Taber’s entire holdings — glass plates, view negatives, portrait negatives, decades of work on a subject he had helped make famous. His career effectively ended there, and he died on \u003cstrong\u003e22 February 1912\u003c\/strong\u003e. Every surviving Taber bas-relief image is a print that happened to be away from the building.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003e🍁 The Toronto house that printed its own\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe firm took its name in \u003cstrong\u003e1893\u003c\/strong\u003e, when Warwick \u0026amp; Sons added Rutter. What made it unusual among Canadian postcard publishers was stubbornness about the work: while its competitors shipped their color lithography to Germany or England, \u003cstrong\u003eWarwick printed on its own presses, in Canada\u003c\/strong\u003e. It is now reckoned the most prolific Canadian publisher of the postcard golden age, roughly 1900 to 1914, and a 400-page collectors’ handbook exists for nothing but its cards.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cstrong\u003eToronto fire of 1904\u003c\/strong\u003e took the company’s premises on Front Street West, in the blaze that levelled much of the city’s wholesale district. Warwick rebuilt and kept printing — which is why cards like this one exist at all.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003e💌 Why a divided back matters\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBefore 1903 a postcard back belonged entirely to the address; anything you wanted to say had to be squeezed into the margins of the picture, or written across the image itself. The divided back — Britain 1902, Canada from the end of 1903, the United States 1907 — gave the sender half the back, and the picture postcard promptly became the text message of the Edwardian world. Billions were mailed. This one never was: no stamp, no postmark, no message, both halves of the back still blank.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003e❓ Questions People Ask\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDo the 95 and 96 on the edge mean the card is from the 1890s?\u003c\/strong\u003e No. They are the years attached to Taber’s patent numbers for the bas-relief process. The card itself is dated by its divided back and its Toronto publisher, both of which put it after 1903.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat is “bas relief” on a postcard?\u003c\/strong\u003e A photographic process that gives the printed image a raised, sculptural look, so the falls appear to stand off the surface of the card.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIs the glitter original?\u003c\/strong\u003e It is applied decoration in the manner of the period — glitter and mica were used on souvenir and greeting cards throughout these years, worked by hand along a feature of the picture, here the falling water.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWas it ever mailed?\u003c\/strong\u003e No. It is unused, with both halves of the divided back clean.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e🏡 Good for Niagara Falls and deltiology collections, Canadiana and Toronto printing history, San Francisco and Isaiah Taber photographic collections, framing, and anyone who likes an object with two disasters and a waterfall in it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"relatedBlock\"\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e🔎 More From The Vintage \u0026amp; Antique Gifts Archive\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/vintageantiquesgifts.com\/products\/dominion-park-fan-postcard-unveils-early-1900s-charm-treasures\"\u003eAntique 1900s - 1910s Dominion Park Fan Postcard 🃏 Montreal, Quebec\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/vintageantiquesgifts.com\/products\/rare-1970s-florida-sunshine-state-golf-postcard-captures-golfing-era-vintage\"\u003eVintage 1970s Large Florida 18 Hole Golf Postcard 🃏 Sunshine State Memorabilia!\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/vintageantiquesgifts.com\/products\/discover-1990s-coke-coca-cola-postcard-set-unopened-vintage-treasures\"\u003eVintage 🥤 Unopened 1990s Coca‑Cola “Travel Refreshed” Postcard Set (NOS) – John Baeder Collection\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Vintage and Antique Gifts","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44568237375720,"sku":"VAG-8248908710120","price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0597\/2718\/4037\/files\/il_fullxfull.5056017683_qeaw.jpg?v=1785439732","url":"https:\/\/vintageantiquesgifts.com\/products\/antique-limited-edition-niagara-falls-postcard-embellished-100","provider":"Vintage and Antique Gifts","version":"1.0","type":"link"}