Too Big for Reality

In October of 2015 I posted a picture of soon-to-be President Taft on the back platform of a train surrounded by very large fruits and vegetables. That was not the only picture of exaggerated sizes of edibles in my collection. I have about 60 of these types of pictures on the front of the post cards. This next series will be an expose (with very little description) of these postcards. Many of them are similar or the same pictures so I will not bore you with all 60 post cards.

Today's offering (mailed on May 6, 1907) comes to us courtesy of Edward H. Mitchell from San Francisco. You will see his name and the fact that this comes from San Francisco, California in the bottom, left-hand corner.

He was born April 27, 1867 in San Francisco - died from a heart attack in Palo Alto, California on October 24, 1932 The information below was taken from this website: http://www.thepostcard.com/walt/pub/ehm/chklst/ehmlife.pdf
Edward H. Mitchell, of San Francisco. Most of his postcards are about the West, he was very prolific, and his cards have great color for the time they were created. There are postcards being republished with other publishing companies that Mitchell owned or was a partner in, Pacific Novelty Co. and Souvenir Publishing Co. Mitchell rode the rails, which makes sense in his era. I am sure that he created many postcards about the railroads in exchange for discounted travel. I believe that is where the saying “The road of a thousand Wonders” which appears on many cards came from. Mitchell also was willing to have artists paint hats on people, he loved hats, and add other eye candy to sell postcards. At one point he was even putting sparkle on cards. All postcards printed after 1908 proudly proclaim 'Printed in the United States' on their backside. Edward H. Mitchell gave up postcard publishing around 1923. Edward H. Mitchell was one of the earliest and most prolific postcard publishers in the United States, and he was a San Franciscan. Cards bearing his name as publisher have been used, collected and studied since the end of the nineteenth century – the dawn of the Golden Age of Postcards. Several extensive checklists running to over three thousand entries have been compiled and updated. Mitchell published very early cards – colored vignettes – that were printed in Germany. He was publishing undivided back cards from a Post Street address before the earthquake and fire of 1906 destroyed his printing operation and much of San Francisco. He continued to work out of his home until he built a plant and warehouse on Army Street. From there he published thousands of divided back cards including many views of San Francisco and the West, series on the Philippines and the Hawaiian Islands, high quality real photo views, comics, artistic designs and a series of early exaggerations of California fruits and vegetables. He printed cards for himself and other publishers, most notably to promote the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition. Collectors and researchers of all Mitchell cards cannot help but feel a personal link with the publisher because he identifies himself on each of them as “Edward H. Mitchell”–  not “... Company,” not “... Inc.” just Edward H. Mitchell.” The link to Mr. Mitchell as a person, is however, fragile. While his business has been analyzed and recorded extensively we know little about the man himself. In the 1980s Sam Stark wrote a series of articles for the Golden Gate Post Card Club bulletin on Edward H. Mitchell, His Life and Times that gave much information on his publishing history and contemporaries and a few vital statistics on Mr. Mitchell. Born: San Francisco, April 27, 1867; graduated Lincoln Grammar School 1883; married Idelle Linehan, also a San Francisco native, in 1891; and died October 24, 1932. Mr. Stark, who had become acquainted with the youngest of Mitchell’s children, Allen, put a bit more flesh on these bones, but Edward H. Mitchell was still little more than a name, a few dates and a blurred photocopy of a rotogravure picture.

This is the back of the post card that Mr. Mitchell is offering to us:

Notice that on the back of the post card there is a stamp that says, "FROM THE COLLECTION OF FRANK C. PERREAULT" I did some research to see who this person was. This is what I found in a book called "Coast Guard Combat Veterans: Semper Paratus"

Frank C. Perreault from Warwick, RI. Enlisted in the USCG in December 1941. Boot training at Algiers, LA; sent to a receiving center, University of Chicago, IL. Assigned as a armed guard aboard the SS Thomas Lynch and the SS John Gates, ore boats plying the Great Lakes. Ordered to Quartermaster School, Ellis Island, NY. Assigned to USCG buoy tender, Hyacinth. Transferred to the USCG Mayflower. As a plank owner sailed her to the decommission in Curtiss Bay, MD. Ordered to report to Boston, MA for assignment aboard the USCGC Bibb. Made three weather patrols under Capt. H. Dielh.
Received honorable discharge in 1947 with the rank AM1/c. He is presently retired from the Prudential Insurance Co. He collects USCG and navel covers and post cards, will swap with anyone with same likes.