Concertina Cards

This is a small selection of attractive concertina (sometimes called ‘fold-out’) cards from the USA. They tend to be shunned by postcard dealers for being less than the real thing whilst ephemera dealers show little interest, regarding them as nothing more than postcards. The examples shown here are mostly from the 1930’s and 1940’s and their covers tend to have a linen finish of the type associated with Curt Teich cards. The typography is completely unrestrained – an extravaganza of 3D letterforms, stretched and squeezed for maximum visual impact. The images within seem to have begun life as photographs but are so extensively retouched as to have lost almost all connection with reality. Colours are lurid and super saturated.