Publisher · US

MWM (Mid-Western Map Co.)

Aurora, Missouri · to 1980, then MWM Dexter

A printing company in Aurora, Missouri, started by the Burney brothers, which became one of the largest road-map printers in the country and also printed postcards.

Its cards are marked with the trade name Bursheen, describing the finish.

In 1980 MWM combined with Dexter Press to form MWM Dexter — so the two names on our Dexter and MWM cards eventually became one company.

The MWM house mark. Find this on a back and you have identified the printer, whatever local name appears on the front.Scanned from the Postcard Origins collection

An MWM imprint reading MWM Color-Litho Bursheen Finished Made Only by MWM Aurora Mo — MWM Color-Litho “Bursheen” Finished, Made Only by MWM · Aurora, Mo.Scanned from the Postcard Origins collection

An MWM serial number, 12,295F — Its serial, 12,295F — note the comma, an MWM habit.From the collection

Dating this publisher’s cards

US. The Bursheen mark identifies MWM as the printer. There is no published serial-number-to-year decoder for MWM, so date these cards from the other evidence on the card — postmark, stamp, address format, printed ZIP or its absence.

Sources: MWM of Aurora, Missouri, the Burney brothers, and the 1980 merger with Dexter Press to form MWM Dexter: Postcard History; Sent from the Past; Find a Grave memorial for Thomas A. Dexter. See methodology.

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