A 3.5x5.5" vintage RPPC photo postcard (NOT a modern reprint) from the estate of a vintage postcard collector. This was part of a huge collection of antique postcards.

* We always automatically combine orders for shipping, so add as many postcards as you’d like to your order!

Photo Overview

A charming Edwardian-era studio photograph of an unidentified young woman, taken at Mitchell Studio, 1022 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA. She is dressed in a tailored ladies' suit jacket with puffed sleeves and a matching skirt, accessorized with a decorative hat trimmed with ribbon, flowers, and feathers -- all hallmarks of fashionable dress circa 1904-1910. Her hand rests confidently on her hip, and she gazes directly at the camera with a composed expression.

This is a real photo postcard (RPPC) produced on AZO paper stock, indicating manufacture between approximately 1904 and 1918. The photo was taken at the Mitchell Studio at 1022 Chestnut Street, a well-known Philadelphia photography studio active in the early 20th century.

Historical Notes

Chestnut Street in Philadelphia was one of the premier commercial thoroughfares of the city in the early 1900s, and portrait studios along its length catered to the middle and upper-middle classes. The AZO postcard paper format, introduced around 1904, allowed photographers to produce portrait postcards that could be mailed directly -- a popular and affordable way to share likenesses with family and friends. The fashion visible in this photograph -- the tailored jacket with leg-of-mutton influenced sleeves, the high collar, the decorated hat perched atop an upswept Gibson-girl hairstyle -- all date this image firmly to the Edwardian period, roughly 1904-1910. Philadelphia's portrait studios produced thousands of such cards during this era, many of which are now cherished by genealogists and fashion historians alike.

Browse our complete RPPC Photo Postcard photograph collection.

Text Present

Back of card, left side (vertical orientation):
MITCHELL STUDIO
1022 CHESTNUT ST., PHILA. PA.

Back of card, center:
POST CARD
THIS SIDE FOR THE ADDRESS

Back of card, upper right (stamp box):
A Z O
A PLACE A
N ONE-CENT N
O STAMP O
HERE
A Z O

Back of card, upper right corner (handwritten):
3-

Print analysis

This is an original Real Photo Postcard (RPPC) printed on AZO photographic paper stock. The AZO stamp box pattern visible on the reverse is consistent with the period 1904-1918. This is a Type 1 original photo postcard, produced at the time the portrait was taken. The silver gelatin emulsion on the front is consistent with period production.

Condition

All postcards we sell are in fair to excellent vintage condition. Please see photos for any tears, folds, smudges, or other age damage that may be present.