Postcard Memories is a weekly series of historic postcard views and photos submitted by Marcel Rousseau. Some were previously published by the Orillia Museum of Art and History and in the book Postcard Memories Orillia.You can take a trip down memory lane with us each Saturday morning!
An “Exaggeration” or “Tall Tale” postcard, circa 1910, with a Canadian copyright by the Canadian Post Card Co., Toronto.
This postcard was originally produced by William H. Martin, a photographer who had a studio in Ottawa, Kansas, U.S.A.
Martin began using photographs in 1908 to produce a series of wildly exaggerated postcards of animals and vegetables. His trick photos earned him a fortune, and he sold the business in 1912.
This Orillia card is one of the most animated of Martin’s photomontages. This rollicking rabbit rodeo is convincing because of its attention to detail. The sketched-in ruts beneath the car and the shadow under the humungous hare add an extra dimension of realism.
These popular postcards were sold in many communities across North America with the distributor changing the place name to match that of the town or city in which the cards were being sold.
