Directory U

August Ude

Erfurt, Thuringa, Germany

Verlag August Ude, Erfurt, Bahnhofstr. 13

August Ude, 13 Bahnhofstrasse, Erfurt published local topographical postcards printed by Karl Braun of Munich.

Ullman Manufacturing Company, New York

ULLMAN’S “GOLD BORDER” SERIES AMERICAN POST CARD – VIEW NUMBER PUBLISHED BY THE ULLMAN MANUFACTURING CO., NEW YORK
ULLMAN MFG.CO.N.Y.
ULLMAN MFG.CO.N.Y. U in shield with stars and stripes

Ullman Manufacturing Company, 338 East 59th Street, New York, was founded about 1888 by Nathan, Max, Louis and Isidor Ullman and Mark Stiles in New York City. They began as publishers of lithographic novelties and prints and went on to a big business about 1900 to 1915 in the sale of framed reproductions, postcards, theatre posters, jigsaw puzzles and books^¹. Their lithographic reproductions were inexpensive and widely sold. One of their early divided-backs here.

Irving Underhill, New York

COPYRIGHT 1903 IRVING UNDERHILL NEW YORK
Souvenir Post Card Co., New York and Berlin. Copyright 1905 by Irving Unverhill

Irving Underhill (1872 to 1960) was one of the most notable commercial photographers in New York City during the first half of the 20th century. He produced work that was featured in postcards and numerous publications while he was still alive, and that continues to be exhibited and receive recognition long after his death. Underhill opened his photography business in 1896, and provided artistic portraits, city views and panoramas, group photographs, marine, legal, and machinery photography. By 1922 his studio was in an impressive building on the corner of Broadway and Park Place. Underhill took a particular interest in capturing the cityscape, landmarks, tall buildings, and nautical scenes. In 1911 Woolworth hired Underhill, whose studio directly fronted the building site, to document the construction of the Woolworth Building at regularly timed intervals. The photographs were then mailed to store managers throughout the country and abroad, with the recommendation that they be distributed and published as widely as possible. Another promotional piece was in collaboration with the Hudson River Day Line and entitled The Hudson River: photo-gravures^².

United Art Publishing Company, New York

UNITED ART PUBLISHING CO.

United Art Publishing Company of New York published numbered topographical tinted photocards into the divided-back era. In 1915 and 1916 they published under the branding Stampkraft a number of storybooks for children with poster stamps to be used as illustrations. The company was taken over by Barse and Hopkins, book and art publishers of 28 West 23d St in 1919 when its business was the manufacture of gift cards, seals tags and accessories thus combining with their art calendars and gift books a most thorough and complete line for holiday and every day needs^³.

United Cigar Stores Company.

United Cigar Stores Company.

United Cigar Stores Company had a chain of shops founded in 1901 representing the interests of the Consolidated Tobacco Company, the tobacco trust that controlled the American Tobacco Company and others. In September 1903 a settlement was reached with the chain’s competitors; all competition ended and they went on to become the largest chain of cigar stores in the United States. Though initially specializing in cigars, they eventually sold many other items including novelty watches and shoe trees. Their range extended to postcards, at least artistic advertising cards and a series commemorating events in 1906 – Washington’s birthday on 22 February and the 53^rd Annual Conclave of the Knights Templar at Pittsburg on 21, 22 & 23 May. All these they bore to have Designed and issued. In 1918 the company issued postcards as part of a campaign in favour of daylight savings^⁴. By 1926 the chain had nearly 3000 retail stores^⁵

United Fruit Company’s Steamship Lines.

Published by the United Fruit Co.’s Steamship Lines.

The United Fruit Company was an American corporation that traded in tropical fruit (primarily bananas), grown on Latin American plantations, and sold in the United States and Europe. The company was formed in 1899, from the merger of Minor C. Keith’s banana-trading concerns with Andrew W. Preston’s Boston Fruit Company. It flourished in the early and mid-20th century, and it came to control vast territories and transportation networks in Central America, the Caribbean coast of Colombia, Ecuador, and the West Indies. Though it competed with the Standard Fruit Company (later Dole Food Company) for dominance in the international banana trade, it maintained a virtual monopoly in certain regions, some of which came to be called banana republics, such as Costa Rica, Honduras, and Guatemala.

United Fruit had a deep and long-lasting impact on the economic and political development of several Latin American countries. Critics often accused it of exploitative neocolonialism, and described it as the archetypal example of the influence of a multinational corporation on the internal politics of the banana republics. After a period of financial decline, United Fruit was merged with Eli M. Black’s AMK in 1970, to become the United Brands Company. In 1984, Carl Lindner, Jr. transformed United Brands into the present-day Chiquita Brands International.

The United Fruit Company Steamship Service provided passenger and cargo ship services under the name of the “Great White Fleet” for over 100 years. The ships were painted white to reflect the tropical sun and help keep the temperature of the bananas lower, hence the name. These ships were originally intended only for carrying cargo. United Fruit soon discovered that it could make more profit by adding passengers. Each ship carried an average of 35,000 bunches of bananas and 50-100 passengers. These cargo-liners, known today as the “banana boats”, were instrumental in helping to establish what are popularly known today as the Banana Republics throughout the Caribbean, and Central and South America. They had a huge impact on the beginning of tourism to these areas.

United Fruit claimed their ships were built especially for luxurious tropical travel. Most cruises were 2 – 4 weeks and went from the U.S. to the Caribbean and Panama Canal, then Central and South America. Their cruise tagline was Where the Pirates Hid their Gold and they promised romance at sea as you explored the coasts where pirates buried their treasures and performed adventurous deeds centuries ago. Clearly part of the cruise would involve postcards such as this of the places being visited.

United States Souvenir Post Card Co, New York

U. S. S. P. C. Co

United States Souvenir Post Card Co, New York – unclear if this is the same as the brand-leading Souvenir Post Card Company (qv).

In 1905 this company published an American Universities College Seal series of cards by Frederick Earl Christy (1883 to 1961) featuring stylish women in the art nouveau style. Such women featured in many of their cartoon cards such as this one and in their Fraternal Order Series the next year. In their Shakespeare Series the Much Ado About Nothing card featured a cartoon of Lincoln campaigning.

A number of the company cards are stamped with an offer by H W Walker of 2157 Fifth Avenue, New York to add “Greetings from your town” on to post cards.

Imprenta Universitaria^⁶

Santiago, Chile

Imp. Universitaria

The University Press of Santiago. My card of the 1906 Valparaiso earthquake was also published with the mark Imp. y Encuardenaciòn^⁷ Universitaria, Merced 814^⁸. Merced 814 is 800 metres from the University of Chile in Santiago.

In 1924 Imprenta Universitaria of Estado, 63 Santiago De Chile published Twixt the Andes and the Sea Year Book Of The Presbyterian Mission In Chile.

1 https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100830023343AAQfYTp

2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_Underhill

3 https://archive.org/details/stationeryoffice1919toro/page/n113

4 https://ghostsofdc.org/2012/01/19/we-need-daylight-savings-and-more-cigars/

5 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Cigar_Stores