Publisher · US

Tichnor Brothers

Boston, Massachusetts · 1908–1987

A Boston printer and publisher whose view-cards were distributed nationally; Curt Teich's principal rival in the linen era.

Its photochrome (glossy) cards carry the trade name Lusterchrome, registered as a trademark on 17 May 1955.

An earlier offset-lithography series was marked Tichnor Gloss — retouched so heavily the images sit somewhere between photograph and artwork.

The firm was sold in 1987 to Paper Magic. Its archives are held by the Boston Public Library and are partly online via Digital Commonwealth.

Sources disagree on the founding year: some give 1908, others 1912. We show the disagreement rather than pick one.

The Tichnor Gloss mark printed on a postcard back, from the Postcard Origins collection — The *Tichnor Gloss* mark — the printer’s brand on a card whose front names a different publisher entirely.Scanned from the Postcard Origins collection

A Lusterchrome stamp box with serial K-17091 — A *Lusterchrome* stamp box (serial K-17091) on a card published by Jack Freeman, Inc. of Longport, N.J. — Lusterchrome is Tichnor’s photochrome brand, so Tichnor printed it.From the collection

A stamp box reading Place Stamp Here, Made in U.S.A., on a Tichnor Gloss postcard from the Postcard Origins collection — A second Tichnor card, and a different box again — this one from a Tichnor Gloss postcard. The wording is generic (PLACE STAMP HERE · MADE IN U.S.A.), which is the point: Tichnor’s boxes vary, so it is the *brand mark* elsewhere on the back, not the box, that names the printer.Scanned from the Postcard Origins collection

The imprint line reading Coronet Greeting Card Co., Elizabeth, N. J. — And the name on this one: CORONET GREETING CARD CO., ELIZABETH, N. J. — a small New Jersey firm, not a printer. Two cards in our collection, two different local publishers, one printer behind both.From the collection

Dating this publisher’s cards

US. Tichnor printed for many local publishers, so the name on the back is often a small regional firm while Tichnor is the printer — look for the Lusterchrome or Tichnor Gloss mark. Lusterchrome was registered as a trademark in 1955; because registration usually follows first use, treat it as a mid-1950s-onward indicator rather than a hard cut-off. There is no published serial-number-to-year decoder for Tichnor.

Sources: Tichnor Brothers company history, trade names and 1987 sale: Boston Public Library / Digital Commonwealth; MetroPostcard publisher list; Wikipedia; Lusterchrome trademark registration date (17 May 1955): brisray.com postcard publishers list. See methodology.

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