SELECTIVE GUIDE TO E.T.W.  DENNIS POSTCARDS

1) The evolution of the last numbering system introduced in 1955 and

modified until the cessation of the business in 2001.

The codes which were introduced in 1955 consist of a letter, or occasionally 2 letters,

sometimes a dot '.', 4, 5 or 6 numerals, sometimes another dot '.' or a space ' ' and

sometimes a suffix letter or letters. A fictitious example could be FD.009301.DL.

The first letter (or letters) represent the initial(s) of a principal village, town or city; an area

or county or even an entire region or country. Examples are 'S' for Sandsend (on the

Yorkshire coast); 'C' for Chichester; 'L' for London; FD for Forest of Dean;

'N' for Nottinghamshire; 'SW' for South West Scotland and 'W' for Wales.

There are only 5 examples of 2-letter area codes so far identified and it is not known

why these were used at all. The Yorkshire codes YD - Yorkshire Dales and YM -

Yorkshire Moors have not been used consistently.

After the letter(s), a dot was used until the 1990's when it was generally omitted.

Having determined the initial letter(s), a 2 number area code was appended in sequence.

A.01 was followed by A.02 and so on. Not all areas were covered in the initial allocation

of these numbers and there have been changes as a result of:

a) Codes being introduced through expansion of national coverage by Dennis

b) Codes being introduced when development meant an area was sub-divided

c) Dennis withdrawing from the Republic of Ireland in the mid 1960's and

    Northern Ireland around 1970 resulting in codes being re-allocated.

d) Code changes resulting from local Government re-organisation over the years and

e) Mistakes or anomalies which have resulted areas being given two (or even three)

     different codes at different times.

The most popular area code letters of 'B' and 'S' each have over 100 examples recorded

(with gaps yet to be discovered) which created the possibility of confusion with the

introduction of 5-numeric codes (3 for the area and 2 for the card). Even though we

know that B.10201L is the first card to be issued by Beccles, it could also have

been the 201st card issued by B.10 Beddgelert (see below for S.02 Scarborough).

To correct this situation and allow for the increased number of areas where

there had been over 100 images issued, the Dennis numbering department

switched to 6-numeric codes at least by 1984, with a leading '0' being inserted in

front of both the area identifier and card identifier where necessary. Scotland's S.5403L

thus became S.054003L. It was this sytem which lasted until the end and indeed can

still be seen in parts of the country where sunsequent purchasers of some of the

business and image rights have meant that the Dennis name lives on in postcards,

particularly as an imprint of John Hinde (UK) Ltd.

Having established the area alpha / numeric, an additional 2 numerals were appended

to show the card code. These started from '01' and were unique to an image rather than

a style of printing which means that cards which were produced from 1955 - c.1967 such

as Phototone, Photoblue, Newcolour and the handfull of Real Photographs can have

the same number but a different appearence due to the finish specified.

This system only allowed 99 cards for any area code ('00' never seems to

have been used for either area or card codes) and these could become quickly

exhausted for the areas which had a lot of card designs or where designs were

changed regularly to reflect new buildings or more modern cars. Scarborough, not

surprisingly, seems to have sequenced through its numbers the quickest which

resulted in numbers being re-issued to more modern designs a number of times

before the introduction of 6-numeric codes. Indeed, Scarborough is known to have

issued a 5-numeric code of S.02102L which must have been at a time when there were

more than 100 concurrent pictures and multi-views available. Examples of 5-numeric

cards are very rare because of the potential for confusion when reps presented their

orders (see also above).

Codes for cards produced in the 'Classic' size of 140 * 90 mm have not been recorded

with 5 or 6 numeric codes and only one example is known of a letter suffix in this

size, that being B.2071.H for Bournemouth, where the 'H' refers to text on the card

appertaining to the quality of holiday being experienced. Otherwise, cards of this size

have nothing after the second pair of numerals.

Larger cards of size 150 * 105 mm existed in the early 60's and possibly before

and were often used either for maps or '9-view' novelty cards, but also for premium

locations where larger (and presumably more expensive) cards might sell.

Whilst generally the smaller cards had straight-cut edges, some of these larger cards

had deckle (crinkle-cut) edges. No reference is made to this feature in the card's coding

and this feature only appears to have existed on the larger 'Continental' size of card.

The outsized nature of the card was (see below) and to separate this suffix letter

from the rest of the code, a dot was generally used. Also noted are spaces or nothing

at all.

For these suffixes, 'L' indicates the card size is 150 * 105mm as opposed to the

original size of 140 * 90mm. A larger 'DL' size also exists which is 170 * 120mm

which Dennis called their 'Prestige' Series. These cards are quite rare.

Example of the above are A.0101, the first card issued in Aberdovey (later Aberdyfi

reflecting the re-popularisation of the Welsh language); A.1154L, a 150 * 105mm

card from Ayr and H.010074DL for a 170 * 120mm extra large card from Hull.

There are also a few other variants which have been recorded for the period 1955 - c.1967

where the area code letter has been prefixed or suffixed. These include

'G' for a Giant View Card and

'P' for a Panoramic card.

Examples would be C.G.0103 for a Giant View of Caernarvon and

PW1415 for a Panoramic Card of Woolacombe. Because these cards were infrequently

produced there are no standards as to where this additonal code should appear or in

which format as can be seen above. 

2) Card styles since 1955.

When current series numbering commenced around 1955, there were four main types

of card in production. The least common was the 'Real Phogtograph' which as the

name suggests was the original image produced on photographic paper to a high

standard. All examples recorded to date have been Black and White images and

the numbers of these cards recorded suggests that production was very limited.

The use of real photographic paper presumably meant that they could only be sold

from within a shop since exposure to moisture or rain would have caused irrepairable

results to the card. It seems likely that these would have been produced away from

the main area of postcard production within the Scarborough works since the process

was far removed from the litho printing used for the bulk of the cards produced.

For collectors, these imags tend to be the most sought after because of their clarity

and rarity. In examples recorded to date, the backing of these cards is in Black ink

and quite simple, with numbering and caption details usually appearing on the front

of the card. For multiview images produced in this way the number appears in very

small print on the front. 

Often appearing similar but without the definition detail of the Real Photograph were

'Phototone' cards which were a Black and White litho postcard of the original

photographic image (as opposed to a photo reproduced on photographic paper).

These cards are quite rare but have no particular cache for collectors because

of the production process and the prevalence of these images from other producers.

The origins of the name and the production technique come from the pre-war period

when cards were produced in the 'Phototone Series' but generally were un-numbered.

Early Post-war examples would not have carried the Phototone name and would have

had a reverse printed in Brown. In the early 1950's Green was the choice of backing

colour and for a while from around 1956 - 1958 this changed to Black for some cards.

Green then re-appeared for the bulk of issues until around 1964 when a re-designed logo

was introduced and a Grey ink introduced. This sequence of events is equally true for

Photoblue and Newcolour as described below.

The other two series which appear in roughly equal numbers were 'Photoblue'

where the Black and White photo had a blue wash applied to appropriate parts to add

definition, and 'Newcolour' where the same Black and White photo has a three colour

wash to make it appear similar to a colour photo, sometimes with mixed results. Both of

these styles of printing produced cards which are instantly recognisible as ETW Dennis

cards.

3) A brief chronolgy of Dennis production.

DAINTY SERIES

This was the initial series of mass produced postcards, most of which date from 1902 - 1910. In a similar way to a process used in the 1950's and 1960's, a monotone image was enhanced with the application of Sky Blue to parts of the image. Colour cards also exist for this period.

1930's

Various series were prevalent at this time such as Iroryesque,  Carbon Bromide, Art Collesque and Daniotype.

THE HEYDAY (In my opinion) c.1950 - 1965

In the 1940's Dennis began production techniques which would last them until the mid 1960's. Black and White photos were enhanced with either Blue - Photoblue - or more colours - Newcolour. Also at this time the same images could be published as Phototone which was the photo having been commercially printed in Black and White or as a Real Photograph which was the image on Photographic paper giving a glossier image. AT this time most of the cards were produced to the original standard size which had existed since before 1900 but a few specials were produced to a larger size. These were generally Maps and popular cards in areas which might support purchases of higher value.

PHOTOCOLOUR

In the early 1960's American publishers were beginning to enter the market with colour images which I imagine made the Dennis product look somewhat dated, even though the quality of the the print and the card were generally superior to the American imports such as Plastichrome and Dexter. With the improvements in colour photography and printing techniques, images of colour views were produced under the title of Photocolour. Most of these were in the 1960's and 1970's to the original standard size of card but gradually larger cards began to be standard starting in the 1980's.

SPECIALS

Besides the images which Dennis decided to number in their own series, there were a large number of other cards produced for distributor around the country and also for private groups, companies and individuals. The Isle of Wight (Dean - Bay Series), The Channel Islands (Guernsey Press, Jersey Printers & Leader) and The Lake District (Sanderson & Dixon) all had Dennis produced cards which masqueraded as cards produced by a local distributor.

OTHER PRODUCTS

In the 1950's or 1960's (and possibly earlier) Dennis Productions made 'Party Games'  such as 'Hidden Towns' or 'Find the Fault' which were a small cardboard box containing cards (smaller than the standard size of postcard), score sheets and directions / answers.