LL -
LL -
The postcards were produced using the collotype printing process, the company having learned about the process from Germany, where their earliest cards had been printed. Levy Sons & Co. then became registered shareholders in a printing firm L’Imprimerie Nouvelle Photographique, Paris. Their address of 75 Rue Fondary is only one street away from 44 Rue Letellier, and so logically that is where the LL cards were printed.
Levy Sons & Co. Expanded their range of UK LL cards and introduced new locations through to 1910. Local photographers and publishers appeared to start supplying the raw material, not solely Levy Sons own staff. From then until the First World War, general postcard sales declined and new series and locations were introduced to help sales. During the War new production was limited, and both paper quality and printing quality were both inferior.
In 1920 with new back types inscribed Levy Sons & Co. Paris, we can see that efforts were made to improve their UK product. Local photographers and publishers were almost certainly supplying all the photography, rather than Levy Sons own staff. At some time in this period it appears that Lithography was replacing the more expensive Collotype process for printing the cards.
In 1922 Levy Sons & Co. amalgamated with their long standing close competitor, Neurdein & Co. to form Levy and Neurdein Reunis. The details of the amalgamation are not known, but the firm continued from the original Rue Letellier address. The Holborn sales address continued in use until around 1925, but LL involvement in the UK was about to finish. In 1932 Levy and Neurdein Reunis was taken over by Compagnie des Artes Photomecaniques (CAP), who were based in Strasbourg. But they also took on the Rue Letellier address. Later card production for France shows quite a mix up of LL, ND, and CAP cards, but it seems that CAP produced no LL cards for the UK.
In post War years many cards additionally had the “SELECTA” imprint on the front, and were printed in a plum colour. “SELECTA” was presumably a marketing and sales organisation but whether it was another arm of Levy Sons & Co. is not known. A typical example of its use was for a printed sachet of 9 cards for sale solely at Osborne House, Isle of Wight.
During World War 1 French printing companies had to obtain government agreement for printing suitable “approved” postcards. Levy Sons were approved, therefore some cards display the oval logo of Union Syndicate des Maitres Imprimeurs de France (USMIF), the logo appearing on the front of the cards, alongside the normal LL caption.
Around 1970 the collection was acquired by the Roger-
Levy Sons & Co. (LL)
