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Very rare & highly sought after vintage/antique ORIGINAL "A Thrilling Halloween" Post Card by American Artist Ellen H. Clapsaddle. The card is gilted, embossed, and printed in Germany.
The post card depicts a boy and a girl sitting together closely on red chairs while reading a scarely ghost story (Ye Ghost Story). There are 3 different face pumpkins on a shelf behind them and one on the floor next to them. The card has some gilting and a gold border around its perimeter. It's also embossed in places. It has wonderful color and is an overall beautiful original piece!
Printed on bottom left front side of card:
Painting Only Copyright by S. Garre 1909
Printed on bottom right front side of card:
Ellen H. Clapsaddle
On the reverse there is some writing with names and a town or city. I believe the hand writing says the following:
"Master Harry Smith
Old Field L.J."
OVERALL AN UNBELIEVABLE CARD!!
There's some wear, marks, dings, discoloration, etc. Please look at the photos closely. If you'd like more images, message me anytime.
Overall an EXTRAORDINARY addition to your Clasaddle/Halloween or general post card collection!!
This will be shipped VERY SECURE TO ENSURE SAFE DELIVERY!!
Thank you for looking.
Some history on American Artist Clapsaddle:
Ellen Hattie Clapsaddle (January 8, 1865 - January 7, 1934)
Clapsaddle was an American illustrator and commercial artist in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She is recognized as THE MOST prolific card artist of her era. She was originally from New York and studied abroad in Germany for many years pre WW1.
Clapsaddle's greatest success was in the development of her artwork into single-faced cards that could be kept as souvenirs or mailed as postcards and she specialized in designing illustrations specifically for that purpose. Artistic designs had become highly prized particularly during the peak of production of the "golden age of souvenir postcards" (1898–1915) for their great marketing possibilities. Clapsaddle is credited with over 3000 designs in the souvenir post card field.
More than half of her estimated 3,000 works depict children, often of different races and cultures of the world. Holidays, particularly Halloween, Valentine's Day, and Christmas, are a common theme in her work.
One of her 1910 card designs, Midnight Angel, was chosen by the United States Postal Service for the 1995 traditional Christmas Stamp.
Clapsaddle's artwork still appears today in prints and commercial art.
