Sunday, October 29, 2023
Wish You Were Here, from Panhandle Pete
Here's a first for the Wish You Were Here series. Although many novelty postcards were published on leather, this is the first I've seen that bears an image that we can definitely credit to a known newspaper cartoonist. Leather postcards were 'printed' via pyrography (a hot poker bearing a design, that is). This process does not easily lend itself to intricate detail, so your typical leather postcard usually has a pretty simple design. To appropriate George McManus' Panhandle Pete is an impressive bit of craft, not to mention a copyright violation. Due to that latter part, it is quite cheeky that the card is copyrighted, but 'circle-K' was smart enough not to identify themselves too definitively.
Thanks to Mark Johnson who supplied the scan from his collection.
For a good introduction to leather postcards, check out this essay.
Labels: Wish You Were Here
