Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1907-07-14
SELL MANY THOUSAND
PICTURE POSTAL CARDS
CALIFORNIA SCENERY GETS A
BIG ADVERTISEMENT
Postoffice Authorities Burdened with
Many Unavailable Varieties Be-
cause People Lack knowl-
edge of Rules

rent tradition that the first two things
a. tourist arriving in Los Angeles asks
are: where are the orange groves!
and SHOW me the post card gallery
When he finds that the orange groves
are not within walking ulstance ne seeA'
| the other alternative.
POST card retailers have no certain
statistics on which to base their hgures,
but estimate that about 6OO0oO caros
monthly find their way out OF the city
of the Angels.
Officials at the Los Angeles postoIilce
| heaye a Deep long drawn sigh When
thew are asked questions bearing on the
most card avalanche which continually
overwhelms the local office. They have
| long ago stopped trying to count the
number, for their name Is legion
UNAVAILABLE Cards
Sometimes the card which the tourist
sends to an eastern friend as reminder
| of his California trip never arrives at
| its destination; and for this the long
| suffering Uncle Sam is to blame indl-
rectly. Cards ornamented with glass
mica sand. tinsel or other such sub
stances must be inclosed in a thin en-
yelope or they cannot, by reason of
recent rulings made by the department.
be sent through the mails.
And here the troubles of the mail man
begin. Senders write personal messages
on the cards and inclose them In the
envelopes, thereby making them letters
and Increasing the postage to cents.
Other sanded or mica cards are sent
without the envelope demanded, and are
forwarded on to Washington for de-
struction. Leather postals on which any
thing but the name, address and greet
ing of the sender are written, must have
a 2.cent stamp. The same rule applies
to cards like the new n. E. A. cards,
bearing little book of California views.
Nothing Questionable Goes
For the United States mail service
| high art. as exemplified by models from
| life" the human form beautiful and
| other pictures not given out In well reg
ulated Sunday schools. have no charms.
| None of the postoffice officials are will
ing to put themselves on record as
| eschewing such pictures; nor are smoked
glasses provided for the censor who
finally passes on their salaciousness; but
| Uncle SAM with puritanical notions of
the sanctity of the mail, will not for
ward a card which pictures the semi
nude.
| If a beautiful woodland nymph is so
indiscreet as to permit herself to be
| surprised in a low necked, high skirted
| gown or bathing suit she must pay for
her indiscretion by having her picture
| forever debarred from the United States
mails.
In years past admirers of high art"
who had not been permitted to send
| their favorite poses through the mails,
took advantage of European trip to
send French cards to their friends, be-
| cause the mail man respected the sane
tity of the foreign mall shut his eyes
and forwarded the Objectionable pictures
posthaste. Now this is changed. If a
picture mailed in France looks naughty
to the mail clerk it is taboo, skidoo,
| %, the same as the home grown product.
Examined by Critics
At the Los Angeles postoffice the mail
clerk first passes on such cards. If the
picture looks too romantic" to keep
company with the prosaic mail he throws
it aside. John Thompson, who handles
all the Los Angeles mail forwarded to
| Washington to be destroyed, next takes
hasty peep at it's naughtiness. If he
finds that the clerk is young and over
modest the card is returned for mailing;
but If the picture is too bad or sugges-
tive it goes with the troublesome tin
sells and other condemned matter to
Washington. At the local postoffice
about 5000 cards a month are held up
and later sent to Washington.
Greatest Postal Card Center
More postal cards are sent from Los
Angeles than fromg any other city in
the country; but of the thousands which
! go through the mails daily few are of
: the Objectionable sort. Mr.. Thompson
said yesterday that sometimes for sew
! eral days there is not a single nude or
} semi-nude card mailed; and often the
record for the month is less than twenty
Within the confines of the Angel city
there are six of the largest post card
stores on the coast. Forty thousand
varieties of cards are on sale at the
various places, cards that come from ali
over the United States and Europe, be-
sides many that are manufactured in
Los Angeles.
! At a South Spring street store 5OOC
cards, comic. beautiful, instructive and
suggestive, are spread out before the
r would be purchaser Cards range in
a price from / to % cents.
The best seller, the prize package OF
the collection, shows two children about
4 8 years old The little maid is cryinl
$ and the boy, his hands in his pockets
stands by with ill-concealed disgust
You're the only girl I ever loved-but
I can't keep telling you so all the time,
he exclaims impatiently.
Fruits and Flowers Popular
Pictures of California trees, flowers
t and fruit take" best with the tourists
: "A favorite is a picture of orange groves
! beyond which snow capped mountains
u rise. Palm trees and graceful pepper
: also rank high.
: Among the fad postals the nam
" cards had a rapid sale for some time
n Teddy bears embossed and with rea
! wool, also made a hit when the Theo
= dore bruin was in the limelight
The most expensive cards are Cali
fornia flowers and fruits embossed ii
satin on a background of Calforni;
wood.
Business in high art cards is prac
tically nil. Very few are sold, and thos
= which are must be inclosed in envelope
1t to escape the mail censors.
D. -
Whats the matter with Bardsleigh
ID He Looks dfscO11ra Red.n