Weidner Variants
This page illustrates the many types of changes Charles Weidner made to the details of his postcards over time. Weidner changed credits, captions, and layout, but unlike many publishers he rarely manipulated the card image. Weidner Catalog shows multiple variants of many cards.
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Weidner's earliest numbered postcards (late 1902) credit "Goeggel & Weidner, Publishers", revised to "Charles Weidner, Photographer" after their partnership ended in 1904. Stock numbers of Goeggel & Weidner cards are from 1 to 110.
- Goeggel & Weidner 2, credit front left, location credit front right "San Francisco."; ca. 1903.
- Weidner 2, credit front left, location credit front right "San Francisco, California.", postmarked 1/15/1906.
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Weidner 35, Weidner credit, AutoChrom logo, printed in Germany credit,
and pre-earthquake caption on front;
undivided back.
Weidner 35, post-earthquake caption on front; Weidner credit on back, divided back;
no printing credit.
These cards illustrate multiple variations:
- Weidner added earthquake-related captions to many early cards after the quake, as here: "Smashed and reduced to ashes by earthquake and fire Apr. 18, 1906."
- Weidner reissued undivided back cards with divided backs when the Post Office allowed divided back postcards (message left, address right) starting on 3/01/1907.
- Weidner typically moved the Weidner credit from front to back when the undivided back era ended.
- Weidner's stock number is typically at the left edge in earlier cards ("35" in left card above), later moved to the bottom edge ("No. 35." in right card above), still later moved to the back (see below).
- Weidner had many cards printed in Germany because German printing at the time was more advanced than American printing. Later cards printed in the U.S. often had no printing location credit.
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The AutoChrom logo identifies a lithographic printing process by German printer Louis Glaser in Leipzig. Both of these cards were printed in Germany (credit damaged on the card at right), but only the left card displays the AutoChrom logo. The earliest Weidner color cards with no AutoChrom logo date from mid-1905.
- Weidner 147, AutoChrom logo, undivided back; postmarked SF 10/dd/1904 (day illegible).
- Weidner 147, no AutoChrom logo, post-quake caption added, undivided back.
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When the end of the undivided back era freed the entire front side for the image, Weidner often modified the front layout by eliminating the white space left open for the message on undivided back cards. He initially retained the white borders around the front image, as in this example.
- Goeggel & Weidner 1, Goeggel & Weidner credit, AutoChrom logo, "Printed in Germany" credit front; undivided back; ca. 1903.
- Weidner 1, Weidner credit and "Printed in Germany" credit on divided back; postmarked SF 1/08/1912; no AutoChrom logo.
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Starting in 1907 with #230, Weidner updated his front layout format with a more modern look, covering the entire front with the image, eliminating white borders and stock number from the front, listing the stock number on the back instead. In a few cases, he recycled an old image for a new postcard with a new stock number, as above.
- Goeggel & Weidner 36, ca. 1903.
- Weidner 634, ca. 1909.
Steve's SF postcard pages:
