Antique & Vintage Postcards

Pull the ribbon and this accordion-fold souvenir unfurls like a tiny scroll of California dreams — a rare leporello booklet format mailed as "Printed Matter" from Germany, depicting park boating scenes, the Santa Barbara Mission's twin bell towers, and the whitewashed arcades of San Gabriel Mission, all rendered in crisp photolithographic halftone. Patented January 11, 1905 (U.S. Patent applied for 1.11.05), this novelty format was produced in Germany for the American souvenir trade and mailed at the one-cent printed-matter rate. The cover card shows a serene Southern California lakeside boathouse framed by palms — likely Westlake Park (now MacArthur Park) in Los Angeles. Inside pages include the Santa Barbara Mission and San Gabriel Mission, testaments to the California missions revival craze sweeping American tourism at the turn of the century. Numbered No. 583 in dealer pencil. The adhesive patch on the back cover suggests it was once part of a small collection or album.