Collecting Pitcairn Postcards

Jennifer Toombs Postcards

2020-07-06T16:58:00.002+01:00

Jennifer in 2006

In 2005, stamp designer and artist, the late Jennifer Toombs, produced a series of 12 different Pitcairn postcards which featured her watercolour paintings. What made these cards extra special was the fact that some of them were original watercolours and not prints. Jennifer also issued some cards which were copies of the watercolours, so collectors need to be very careful before buying (especially when using the online auction sites as it may not be clear if you are getting a painting or a print).

The latest section of Ransom's Pitcairn Postcard Catalogue shows all 12 postcards. Some of the paintings were based on photographs which Jennifer took when she was on Pitcairn in 1966.

The Postcard Catalogue is available as a FREE downloadable PDF file from this website:

Ransom's Pitcairn Postcard Catalogue

If you like the Catalogue, you can download all the parts issued so far, but please consider making a donation, however small, to Cancer Research through my Just Giving page:

Just Giving for Cancer Research

Breaking the Curteich Code

2020-04-27T23:50:00.002+01:00

Do you know how to find out the age of the Pitcairn Island postcards published by Curteich? With many postcards, the only way to work out roughly when they were published is to find used copies with easy to read postmarks, and then go by the earliest. Fortunately, the American postcard publisher Curteich, also known as Curt Teich & Co, based in Chicago, had a special code printed on their cards which I can now tell you how to translate.

Each code begins with a number and then a letter, A, B, C, or D. This letter refers to the decade, A being the 1930s, B the 1940s, C the 1950s and D the 1960s, and the number preceding is the year.

Therefore, reference 9B489-N, which is used on the Boats Shed card illustrated here (Ransom's Pitcairn Postcard Catalogue number C4-2), indicates that the card was printed in the year 1949 (9B), and that it was the 489th card manufactured that year by Curteich.

The code, 9DK-1095, is in the stamp box on the back of this Pitcairn Bible postcard published in 1969 (Catalogue number C6-2)

In the Catalogue are quite a few very nice Curteich Pitcairn cards, published over a 20 year period from 1949 to 1969. Section "C" of the Catalogue is available as a free download by following this link.

Matthew Quintal, outstanding heavy

2020-04-25T00:01:00.000+01:00

I like to collect postcards that are related to my main subject, but perhaps not obviously so at first glance. These two cards are from what I like to call my "sideways" collection.

Matthew Quintal, born on 3rd March, 1766, was perhaps the roughest character in the Pitcairn story. He was the man who, some people believe, took it upon himself to burn the Bounty at Pitcairn. The following extract is from David Silverman’s excellent book Pitcairn Island, published in 1967 by the World Publishing Company:

Matthew Quintal, (Quintall, Quintrell, Quintral), A.B. Matthew Quintal, a Cornishman from Padstow, was easily the outstanding “heavy” in the Pitcairn cast, despite no inconsiderable competition. His comradeship at arms (and bottle) with McCoy apparently antedated their Bounty experience. Quintal was the very prototype of the “hard cases,” typical of Royal Navy crews of the time, for whose control the lash had been sanctioned. He was the first aboard the Bounty to taste it; early in the voyage Bligh had ordered twenty-four applications of that sovereign remedy applied to Quintal’s back for what Bligh variously described as “insolence and mutinous behaviour” and “insolence and contempt to the master.” Quintal appears on Bligh’s list as “aged 21 years, five feet five inches high, fair complexion, light-brown hair, strong made [no exaggeration], very much tatowed on the back side, and several other places.” Quintal was the leader in the maltreatment of the Polynesians. “Asserted as a fact” by Rosalind Young is the story “handed down that one day his wife went out fishing, and, not succeeding in obtaining enough to satisfy Quintall, he punished her by biting off her ear.”

This 1888 view of Padstow Harbour, from the Francis Frith Collection, is reproduced from a recently printed postcard. Although photographed almost 100 years after the Mutiny on the Bounty, it captures a view that would not have been totally unfamiliar to the young Matthew Quintal.

Another view of Padstow, shows the Market Place in 1906, also reprinted from the Francis Frith Collection. Here we see evidence of the Quintrell family – their printing and stationery business (on the right) in Market Place. The building, a newsagent’s shop in 2001, under different ownership (although the family is still known in the area), was actually where I purchased this postcard.

A similar viewpoint today can be seen on Google Street View.

MGM Bounty

2020-04-24T14:54:00.000+01:00

I feel that any collection of Pitcairn Island postcards has to have at least a few postcards showing the Bounty replicas. Here are two of my favourite MGM Bounty postcards. This series, I believe, comprises 37 different images, and a total of at least 165 cards if you include the various printings and varieties.

Included in the series are scenes from the 1962 film Mutiny on the Bounty, and also photographs of the Bounty replica when she was on display as a tourist attraction at various locations in the United States.

Catalogue number M1-15. Card size: 88 x 139mm. BOUNTY ARRIVES AT TAHITI. The Bounty is on exhibit in Flushing, New York, near the New Shea Stadium. Scene from “Mutiny on the Bounty”. Ref: MGM 15. Code: SC8325

If you would like a copy of my specialised 132 page edition of The Bounty Postcard Catalogue, it is available to purchase from Amazon for the Kindle (and Kindle Reader application, available for computers and tablets), price just £2. AMAZON PAGE

A simplified, basic catalogue is included in section "M" of Ransom's Pitcairn Postcard Catalogue, and that is available as a free downloadable PDF file from this website. POSTCARD CATALOGUE. Please note that a voluntary donation to Cancer Research is requested in exchange for the catalogue.


	Catalogue number M1-18. Card size: 88 x 140mm. BOUNTY SAILING NEAR TAHITI. The Bounty is on exhibit in Flushing, New York, near the New Shea Stadium. Scene from “Mutiny on the Bounty”. Ref: MGM 18. Code: SC8327

1922 Remuera collision

2012-03-26T13:15:00.001+01:00

Four postcards showing a collision involving the New Zealand Shipping Company's Remuera which occurred in 1922 are now on the HGK website. I wonder if they could have been taken by Henry Keyse?

Roy Sanders 1950s photographs

2011-12-17T18:12:00.000+00:00

A set of 12 postcards has been published showing photographs taken by Pitcairn schoolteacher, Roy Sanders, during his time on the Island in the early 1950s.

95 sets were printed, and these may be viewed and purchased (with PayPal) from The Postcard Shop on this web page: printerspie.co.uk/Shop/Postcards.html

The price for a set of 12 cards is just £4 (plus postage) and that includes a £1 donation to Cancer Research. All prices are in Pounds Sterling, but PayPal will convert to your own currency.

The postcards are printed on good quality card stock and have a glossy finish to the picture side.

If you do not have a PayPal account, PayPal will take the payment from your credit card. Sorry, but alternative payment methods are not available.

Available while stocks last.

Coral Reef Fish (maximum cards)

2010-12-02T22:26:00.000+00:00

This beautiful and vividly colourful set of four postcards was released for the World Wildlife Fund in 2010.

Mystery postcard

2010-11-23T08:14:00.001+00:00

This postcard was sold on eBay back in November 2004. I would be very interested to know what you think about it. Is it really a view taken on Pitcairn Island? Please add comments to this blog.

Pitcairn Postcard Magazine 6 - free postcards

2010-11-04T08:03:00.000+00:00

Here are the three free postcards that were included with the sixth edition of the Pitcairn Postcard Magazine. I still have some copies of the magazine with these free postcards included available for sale. Please contact me for further information.

What's in the next Postcard Magazine?

2010-11-01T13:59:00.000+00:00

Here is a list of the contents of edition 6 of the Pitcairn Postcard magazine:

• Identification through handwriting?
• "E.Th." follow up
• Pitcairn QSL radio ham cards
• Archaeological fieldwork on Pitcairn Island, 1964
• Recently discovered Pitcairn Island Real Photo series, c.1949
• Peter Zerface - another barber!
• Tichnor Brothers postcards
• Henry Spencer Salt, Norfolk Island photographer
• Major John Pitcairn postcards
• Laboratoires La Biomarine 'Dear Doctor' postcards
• 1926 Watercolour paintings - anything to do with Karl Lewis?

Pitcairn Postcard Magazine 6 - Out very soon!

2010-10-27T13:21:00.000+01:00

It has been a very long time coming, but at last the latest edition of the Pitcairn Postcard Magazine is almost finished. There is just one article to complete and a few little fillers to find to tidy up a couple of pages and then it will go to press.

UPDATE 2020:

This magazine is available to purchase as a digital edition. Please click here to find out more.

The big question

2007-12-16T20:31:00.000+00:00

The big question that has yet to be answered is . . . "was Henry Keyse a photographer?" I have credited Henry Keyse (HGK) as the photographer of a series of Pitcairn photographs that were published as postcards and used in the 1920s and 1930s by passengers on the New Zealand Shipping Company (NZSC) vessels.

There is a strong case that the photographer of these Pitcairn views was in fact David James Aldersley, a professional photographer from New Zealand.

There are three possibilities:

(1) Henry Keyse (HGK), while working as a barber on board the vessels of the NZSC, visited the island and took photographs of the islanders which he sold to passengers as postcards. I have evidence that HGK was on board several NZSC vessels. I also have evidence that a barber (name not known) visited Pitcairn and took some photographs of the islanders at about the right time period. I have evidence that a barber (name not known) of the NZSC undertook to process passengers' photographs.

(2) David Aldersley visited Pitcairn and took the photographs. He then printed them on postcard paper and allowed HGK to sell them to passengers with the inscription "Copyright HGK" included in the caption. I have not yet seen David Aldersley on passenger lists of the NZSC. David Aldersley was a well-known and accomplished photographer whose wonderful pictures of New Zealand views are sought after by collectors through eBay. The handwriting on David Aldersley's photographs is identical to the handriting on the Henry Keyse photographs.

(3) Henry Keyse took the photographs and David Aldersley printed them up at his New Zealand studio for HGK to sell on board ship as postcards.

I would be very grateful if anyone with more information would contact me.

Progress Update

2007-07-23T23:06:00.000+01:00

I can't believe it is so long since I posted an update on this blog. The catalogue is a much larger job than I imagined when I began all the scanning. It could well end up at about 100 pages. I am working on it in most of my spare time now after finishing the first full colour edition of the "UK Log" (magazine of the Pitcairn Islands Study Group, UK). The catalogue WILL be printed as soon as possible . . . I hope later this year, but if not, then early in 2008. I know I have been talking it up for many years now, but finally I am getting quite excited about it. It is finally appearing on the computer in front of me: revised descriptions, new improved catalogue numbers (with the old ones retained too for cross reference), and colour scans of all cards that I can lay my hands on - both fronts, backs, errors and varieties.

I'm also working on producing a new set of Pitcairn postcards showing maps of the island. More details soon.

Pitcairn Postcard Catalogue hits 500 scans

2006-11-08T23:23:00.000+00:00

The new Catalogue gets ever closer! I have now produced over 500 scans of postcard fronts and backs, all in colour, for the new catalogue. I guess it is going to be a big catalogue (and therefore quite expensive!). My aim is to publish some time next year.

Shown here is a rather nice maximum card produced by Floyd McCoy on Pitcairn. Catalogued as T1.

Fletcher Christian's House?

2006-10-21T15:28:00.000+01:00

Does anyone know for sure that this was Fletcher Christian's House? It was certainly demolished before Fletcher's grandson's house. The upper postcard, issued by the Pitcairn Islands Study Group in the UK in 2002, used the same original photograph as the lower card. The lower, much older card was recently sold on eBay for £108. The description on the photograph used to print the PISG card was "Last of the Mutineers Houses and the oldest on the Island". Both these cards will appear in the new Pitcairn Postcard Catalogue which is currently in production (350 scans to date!).

A piece of Thursday's house

2006-09-19T22:54:00.000+01:00

This is an example of card "C3-2" (Pitcairn Postcard Catalogue number) which has the addition of a small piece of wood from Thursday October Christian's house on Pitcairn. Thursday was Fletcher Christian's grandson. In 2004, this house was sadly demolished because it had become unsafe after an attack by termites.

John Adams seated at the Bounty's mess table.

2006-09-13T22:49:00.000+01:00

I scanned this interesting postcard today, M28 (old catalogue number) was produced for Florida's first marine historical attraction on exhibit at Vinoy Yacht Basin adjoining the Municipal Pier in St Petersburg, Florida. It shows John Adams seated at the Bounty's mess table.

177 scans produced so far for the new catalogue. It is a good start but I know there is a long way to go.

MGM cards - difficult to catalogue

2006-09-12T23:29:00.000+01:00

The catalogue is finally beginning to take shape and my collection of scans is growing. I am scanning all my postcards, front and back, at 100% and am going to reduce them for the catalogue to perhaps 20 or 25%. This way it will still be possible to see their relative size and also work out their actual size when looking at the printed book.

The "fun" really starts when I get into variations of the same card. Here, for example, is one of my MGM postcards in several printings. You will see that the backs are all quite different, the trimming is either wavy edge or straight, and one view includes a telegraph pole which is not visible in the others.

Does this mean that you have to collect all the varieties? Well as with stamp collecting, that is entirely up to you! When I began collecting Pitcairn postcards I had no idea it would lead me to this . . .

The old Pitcairn Church

2006-09-04T23:19:00.000+01:00

It never ceases to amaze me that old Pitcairn postcards are still being discovered. I knew of the very rare "HGK" postcard of the two storey Pitcairn church (shown above, top, catalogued as K1-4) and didn't expect to find another card with a similar view. However, one was recently sold on eBay for the quite amazing sum of US$386.00. Have a look carefully in the dealers boxes at Postcard Fairs … you never know your luck!

One-o-Clock - O1-21 to O1-23

2006-09-01T12:52:00.000+01:00

Set of three postcards printed in 1999 from photographs by Pam Brown, taken in 1996 when she was working as Pitcairn's Schoolteacher.

O1-21 - Pitcairn Radio Station at Taro Ground. The envelope is an example of the famous 'Radio Cover' issued in 1938 to commemorate the establishment of 'The Voice of PITC the South Pacific' on Pitcairn.

O1-22 - Adamstown Square showing the Post Office and the anchor from the Bounty.

O1-23 - The Landing, Bounty Bay. First view of Pitcairn for returning Islanders or the few lucky tourists arriving by longboat. Great skill is required by the boatmen to pick the right moment to approach the harbour.

Sets of these postcards, in mint condition, are available to purchase from THE POSTCARD SHOP.

One-o-Clock - O1-17 & O1-18

2006-09-01T12:48:00.000+01:00

Two more "advertising" cards. Printed in 1998, O1-17 shows a replica of the 'Bounty' launch. Reproduced in black and white from a photograph taken at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. O1-18 is from a photograph by Pam Brown taken in 1996 when she was on Pitcairn working as the Schoolteacher. It shows the Pitcairn Co-Op Store.

These postcards, in mint condition, are available to purchase from THE POSTCARD SHOP.

One-o-Clock - O1-9 to O1-16

2006-09-01T12:41:00.000+01:00

This set of eight postcards was printed in 1997 - my first cards to be printed in full colour. The photographs were taken by Pam Brown in 1996 when she was on Pitcairn working as the Schoolteacher. The two cartoons are reproduced from original artwork by the artist John Giepel. John worked on the Captain Pugwash series of animated cartoon films and has included the Captain in the background of his representation of the Mutiny on the Bounty. The watercolour of the Bounty off the coast of Pitcairn was painted by the artist Jennifer Toombs, well known for her many stamp designs.

Complete sets of these postcards, in mint condition, are available to purchase from THE POSTCARD SHOP.

One-o-Clock - O1-7 & O1-8 - Advertising cards

2006-09-01T12:36:00.000+01:00

O1-7 is a photograph of exhibits in the Pitcairn Island Museum as it was in 1996.

O1-8 shows the Radio Station at Taro Ground, together with a 'Radio Cover'.

Both photographs by Pam Brown who was the Schoolteacher on Pitcairn. Printed in blue monochrome, both cards are now out of print.

One-o-Clock - O1-6 - William Bligh's birthplace

2006-09-01T12:33:00.000+01:00

This postcard, was previously withdrawn from sale due to genealogical errors on the back, however some surviving copies have now been found. It presents a montage illustration of St Tudy Church and Tinten Manor farm house in Cornwall. Printed 1996. Monochrome.

Available in mint condition from THE POSTCARD SHOP.

One-o-Clock - O1-1 to O1-5

2006-09-01T12:24:00.001+01:00

These were the first five postcards that I published in 1996. They show early views of Pitcairn reproduced from old black and white photographs.

O1-1 Shows a view of Pitcairn from one of the New Zealand Shipping Company's vessels.
O1-2 Is a view of the boat sheds in Bounty Bay.
O1-3 The 'Hill of Difficulty'.
O1-4 The graveyard on Pitcairn.
O1-5 Islanders in their long-boats about to trade with a passing ship.

It is not known for sure what dates the photographs were taken, but they could be from as early as 1916 up to the 1930s.

Complete sets of these postcards in mint condition are available to purchase from THE POSTCARD SHOP.