Opinions on Ruth Postcard
 

Picked up 2 of these from eBay the last couple years. The image is from a Nickolas Muray photo from 1927. The back paper is Azo with 2 triangles up & 2 down, so that puts it between 1910 & 1930. The prices were too good to be true, so seeking opinions. Thanks!

Hey Paul - looks fake to me. that doesn't look like a photo and that is photo paper. If you loop it you will probably see dot matrix pattern rather than a photo which wouldn't have any dot pattern.

Looks like a sandwich. Does it feel thick to you? Can you take a picture of the edge of the card? I don't want to dismiss it offhand but looks like a lot of the recent fakes that have been sold by ebay username Southern-charm-collectibles

I dont see a dot matrix, & looks like a real photo PC. Dont have time to take a picture of the side at this time, but it does not feel thick. Compared it to another RPPC I have from the same period, & its the same thickness. It even curls up a bit like some of the old RPPC do.

I would send them to SGC so they can authenticate them for you.

From the scan I am not a fan either. Not sharp enough and the back looks a bit too white. I think authentication will bear this out. Hopefully I am wrong.

Sorry, Paul, but it doesn't look right to me either. Most all unique-type real photo postcards are more candid shots, this one seems too "staged" to me.

Ruth Postcard
 

I've suspected for a couple years that someone is putting out "homemade" RPPCs using a rubberstamp to create the AZO back with many of the cards being Yankee subjects, Ruth, Gehrig, 1927 team.

Good points, but all anyone needed to get Real photo cards was a negative or sometimes the raw film. A photo of a photo wouldn't be impossible.

I think some companies offered them in quantity too.

Steve B

first reaction is no good

Even a photo of a photo wouldn't have that degree of fuzziness throughout. I've seen a period photo of a Pittsburgh premium that was made into an RPPC and the clarity on that (although slightly out of focus) doesn't have the same quality. The stripes on this one are almost missing in places. That to me feels like a scan and then a print. The scan would lose the detail in some of the lighter areas as happened here.

All I can say is that after looking at hundreds of RPPCs, this one doesn't sit well with me. Not ruling it out and have no trouble admitting mistakes though so would be open to new information.