Tucson Fire Department Post Card Collection of Tucson & U of A This is one of many sections that contain information, documents, letters, newspaper articles, pictures, etc. They have been collected and arranged in chronological order or by a subject. These items were collected, organized and entered into a computerized database by Dave Rid- ings Assistant Chief Tucson Fire Department, Al Ring friend of the department, Greater Tuc- son Fire Foundation and with the help of many friends and fellow firefighters. All graphics have been improved to make the resolution as good as possible, but the reader should remember that many came from copies of old newspaper articles. This also applies to other items such as documents, letters, etc. Credit to the source of the documents, photos, etc. is provided whenever it was available. We realize that many items are not identified and regret that we weren’t able to provide this infor- mation. As far as the newspaper articles that are not identified, 99% of them would have to be from one of three possible sources. The Arizona Daily Star, The Tucson Citizen and the Tuc- son Daily Citizen, for which we want to give a special thanks. Please use this information as a reference tool only. If the reader uses any of the information for any purpose other than a reference tool, they should get permission from the source. Should the reader have additional information on the above subject we would appreciate you sharing it with us—Assistant Chief Dave Ridings [email protected] or Al Ring rin- [email protected] Special thanks to Al Ring whose collection these are from: NOTE: The following are 3 sections are from Al Ring’s personal post card collec- tion on Arizona. Not included are the chrome and modern post cards. With over 20,000 cards, the following are just Tucson and the University of Arizona. This collection is in the TFD history to show the researcher or interested person the growth of Tucson both in size and type of construction. A fire department must keep up with the city it protects both in size and height of buildings. Early and Pre 1930, White Border: (Around 1898 to 1930) Pioneer Era (Pre 1898) — Most pre-1898 postcards share a few common traits: The postcard of this era is characterized by an undivided back (no line going down the center of the back of the postcard), and many contain printed lines on the back for the name of the addressee and his address only. Private Mailing Card Era (1898 to December 24, 1901) — On May 19, 1898, by an act of Congress, private printers were granted permission to print and sell cards that bore the inscription “Private Mailing card.” Cost of postage reduced from 2 cents to 1 cent. Undivided Back “Postcard” Era (December 24, 1901 to March 1, 1907) — The use of the word “POST CARD/ POSTCARD” (as one or two words) was granted by the government to private printers. Writing was still not permitted on the address side. Divided Back Era (March 1, 1907 to 1915) (Golden Age) —Postcards with a divided back were finally per- mitted on March 1, 1907. The address had to be written on the right side of the back of the postcard while the left side was reserved for writing messages. White Border Era (1915-1930) —After WWI printers of view postcards, to save ink, a white border was left around the view, thus we call them “White Border” postcards. The higher cost of post-war publishing com- bined with inexperienced labor caused the production of poorer quality cards. HISTORY OF REAL PHOTO POSTCARDS 1888 AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHY IS BORN George Eastman introduced a camera that allowed anyone to take 100 photographs. The camera was then mailed to Rochester, New York where the photographs were printed and the camera reloaded and returned to the photographer. This marked the beginning of amateur photography. 1902 PHOTOGRAPHIC POSTCARD PRINTING PAPER INTRODUCED The Eastman Kodak Company introduced the first postcard photographic paper, named gaslight paper. The paper’s emulsion was very fast and allowed the amateur photographer to print at night using artificial light or exposure to a gas jet. The introduction of this type of paper, still used for contact sheets, produced a boom in the making of real photo postcards. Kodak trademarks for gaslight papers were Velox and Azo. Oth- er companies soon followed Eastman: the Canadian Kodak Company manufactured Oko paper and Ansco manufactured the Cyko and Noko papers. 1903 POSTCARD CAMERA INTRODUCED The next development in the history of the real photo postcard occurred in 1903 with the introduction of the Eastman Kodak Folding Pocket Kodak No. 3A. The camera took postcard size (3/12” x 51/2”) negatives. Two other early manufacturers of postcard cameras were Seneca and the Chicago Ferrotype Company. 1906 REAL PHOTO POSTCARD PRINTING SERVICES INTRODUCED In this year Eastman Kodak began actively promoting the real photo postcard business by offering the service of printing the postcards for the photographer. 1907 ESTABLISHMENT OF REAL PHOTO POSTCARD BUSINESSES In this year the “undivided back” postcard was replaced by the divided back” format. The new format added a space for the message on the left back of the postcard, thus allowing the full front to be used for the im- age. This change marked the beginning of many real photo postcard businesses. These businesses employed photographers to take portraits in studios, at and popular locations such as amusement parks. These photog- raphers were also hired to produce postcards of a town for promotional purposes and to also record local events, including disasters such as floods or train wrecks. LINEN ERA (1930-1945 (1960?) New American printing processes allowed printing on postcards with a high rag content. This was a marked improvement over the “White Border” postcard. The rag content also gave these postcards a textured “feel”. They were also cheaper to produce and allowed the use of bright dyes for image coloring. They proved to be extremely popular with roadside establishments seeking cheap advertising. Linen postcards document every step along the way of the building of America’s highway infra-structure. Most notable among the early linen publishers was the firm of Curt Teich. The majority of linen postcard production ended around 1939 with the advent of the color “chrome” postcard. However, a few linen firms (mainly southern) published until well into the late 50s. Real photo publishers of black & white images continued to have success. Faster reproduc- ing equipment and lowering costs led to an explosion of real photo mass produced postcards. Once again a war interfered with the postcard industry (WWII). During the war, shortages and a need for military person- nel forced many postcard companies to reprint older views WHEN printing material was available. Al Ring - Arizona Postcards-Pre 1930: Tucson 1 237 Ruins Of Old Casa Grande, Tucso 10177 Congress Street, Looking West, L 10178 St. Joseph’s Academy, Tucson, A 103 Santa Rita Hotel. Tucson, Arizona. 104496 Public Library And Park, Tucson, 10495. Adobe Buildings, Tucson, Arizona 10496. A Shaded walk, Tucson, Arizona 10580 Tucson, Arizona 110 A Tucson Home, Arizona 113427 Southern Methodist Hospital And 12 17655 El Paso & Southwestern Depot, 12 Willard Hotel And Methodist Church 124 A Cozy Home. Tucson, Arizona 128 A View From Tucson, Mountains. Tuc 13017 Business Street In Old Town, Tucs Al Ring - Arizona Postcards-Pre 1930: Tucson 15 17652 Southern Pacific Ry. Station, T 152 View Looking North, Showing Catal 158 A Desert Scene. Tucson, Arizona. 17643 Masonic Temple, Tucson, Ariz. 17646 East Congress St., Tucson, Ariz. 17648 Carnegie Library, Tucson, Ariz. 17653 Methodist Church, Tucson, Ariz. 17654 Congregational Church, Tucson, A 17656 St. Marys Hospital, Tucson, Ariz. 17657 Santa Rita Hotel, Tucson, Ariz. 18 A Modern Home. Tucson, Arizona. 20 18440 Rincon Apartments, Tucson, Ar 201 Heidel Hotel, Tucson, Ariz. 203 View Looking North Showing Catalina 208 An East 3rd Street Home. Tucson, Ar Al Ring - Arizona Postcards-Pre 1930: Tucson 212 El Paso And Southwestern Station. T 216 Cactus Forest. Tucson, Arizona. 221 A Residence, Tucson, Ariz. 223 Old Pueblo Club And Rodgers Hospit 22659 Bird’s Eye View Of Tucson, Arizo 230 Papago Indian Home. Tucson, Arizon 232 Paso And South Western Depot, Tucs 2390. Birds Eye View Of Tucson, Ariz. 2392. North Main Street. Tucson, Ariz. 2394. Cactus Forest. Tucson, Ariz. 2397. A Street In Old Town. Tucson, Ariz 241 Gila Monsters, Tucson, Ariz. 248 Papago Indian School, Tucson, Arizo 248 Consolidated National Bank, Tucson, 25 234 Methodist Episcopal Church, Tuc Al Ring - Arizona Postcards-Pre 1930: Tucson 251 104495 High School, Tucson, Arizon 253. 104497 Home Of Harold Bell Wrig 255. 7771 Santa Rita Hotel, Tucson, Ariz 256 104498 Catalina Mountains And Des 258. 115036 El Conquistador Hotel, Tucs 26 17651 Marist College, Tucson, Ariz. 260 87312 Southern Pacific Depot, Tucso 2606 Santa Rita Hotel, Tucson, Arizona 261. 8971 Main street, Tucson, Arizona. 263 26985 Carnegie Library, Tucson, Ari 267 87319 Country Club, Tucson, Arizon 268 110766 Temple Of Music And Art, T 26985 Carnegie Library, Tucson, Arizona 27 Fast Express! Tucson, Ariz. 270 121412 Congress Street, Looking East Al Ring - Arizona Postcards-Pre 1930: Tucson 273 626N U. S. Veterans’ Hospital, Tucs 273 1672-29 U. S. Veterans Hospital, Tuc 274 1673-29 El Conquistador Hotel, Tucs 275 1105-30 Pima County Court House, T 276 1104-30 Showing Pioneer Hotel And 277 1106-30 The Pioneer, Tucson, Arizon 30 St. Mary’s Hospital, Tucson, Ariz. 303 View Looking North Showing Catali 31 Initial Run Of Electric Street Car, Tuc 313 A View From Tucson Mountains, Tu 32 High School.