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An original billhead from the Frank W. Swallow Post Card Co. of Exeter, New Hampshire, dated May 22, 1912 and made out to Mr. F. H. Moore of Barnstead, New Hampshire. Swallow was one of New England's souvenir postcard publishers, and the printed heading says so directly: Souvenir Post Cards and Souvenir View Books. A red swallow in flight, registered at the U.S. Patent Office, is printed at the upper left as the company device.
What makes this one worth keeping is that it was actually used. Three orders are entered in ink across the ruled columns, each for a hundred cards, and the totals run to two dollars. The first two lines are birthday cards, given by series number, and the third reads 100 Love Series. Frank W. Swallow signed it himself at the bottom, marking the account paid. The printed terms give thirty days and warn that interest runs at six per cent after that, and that claims must be made within ten days.
For a postcard collector this is the paperwork behind the hobby, showing what a country storekeeper ordered from a publisher a hundred and thirteen years ago, and naming the series he chose. For a junk journal or collage maker it is a strong sheet of period letterpress in red and black, with a bold graphic logo and a good deal of open ruled space.
Condition is honest for its age. The sheet has been folded twice and the folds show, there are four filing punch holes along the top edge, and the paper carries light overall toning with a faint stain at the upper left near the logo. No tears and no losses, and every line of ink is legible. Ships flat and protected between boards.
