Photodrama postcards

A series of sepia postcards has been found that advertise the Photodrama of Creation. They include both still shots from the slides and frames from the moving pictures.

From the slides they include:

This picture had earlier been used for the inside rear cover of the special 1 January 1912 Watch Tower.

It was also the subject of a well-known Lardent card.

From the moving pictures they include:

The reverse of the postcards contain no further information. Of the ten this writer has seen, the one above is the only one to have been used in the mail. If any reader would like to decipher the address and message, please do let us know. What can be ascertained is that this particular card was posted from Chicago in 1919.

The Chicago link suggests that this is part of a set that was advertised in the St Paul Enterprise in early 1915. Starting in the issue for 8 January 1915 the following advertisement appeared in the paper.

The Chicago Temple produced its own postcards to advertise showings of the Photodrama. One famous view was this one.

The temple actually ceased operation in mid-1915. For its full story see the article:

https://jeromehistory.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-chicago-city-temple-and-photodrama.html

The advertisements for Photodrama postcards disappeared from the Enterprise after its 13 August 1915 issue.

Although the postcards were still being used in 1919 from the evidence above, they were soon superseded by a far superior product. In 1916 CTR ordered a series of 40 postcards that reproduced scenes from the Photodrama in color. They were printed in France but because of war conditions did not arrive in America until around April 1917. This announcement was placed in The Watch Tower in its issue for 15 April 1917.

These cards are most collectable today, featuring a color picture on one side and the appropriate text of the lecture recording on the other. There was space for a mailing address but any personal messages had of necessity to be brief.

A comparison of the quality shows why the 1917 cards had far greater circulation.