Publisher: Scheff

I. Scheff and Bros. (brothers Isadore and David Scheff) published postcards in San Francisco for a few years right after the 1906 earthquake. The firm appears in city directories from 1906 through 1909 (as "I. Scheff & Bro.", not "I. Scheff & Bros." or "J. Scheff & Bros." as on the cards below; see detailed notes). Earlier directories do not list the company or either brother, so I'm guessing they came to San Francisco around the time of the earthquake. Some cards credit "J. Scheff & Bros" (see below; possibly a third brother?). Two 1907 articles in the San Francisco Call (11/17/1907, 11/24/1907) name Isadore Scheff in relation to a police crusade against obscene postcards; the only example I've seen is here (hot stuff!). The Scheffs do not appear in the 1910 directory or in 1910 San Francisco census records, so presumably they moved away in 1909 or 1910. Scheff Catalog lists some Scheff postcards.

I. Scheff & Bros. ephemera:

A brief paragraph at metropostcard.com describes the Scheff firm in S.F., and just below it lists "I. Scheff Engraving Co., Inc. (New York 1930s-)", probably related.



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Van Ness was a posh residential street pre-quake, but many homes became stores or restaurants during the post-quake rebuilding of downtown.



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Beautifully printed post-quake b+w Scheff postcards show neighborhood life, an uncommon subject for cards of the period.



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Scheff's divided back color cards postdate the undivided back cards above.



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Steve's SF postcard pages: