Unlike Marque L-E, there is a wealth of published information on the "Watercolour" Series of postcards produced by Salmon (a firm still based in Sevenoaks, England). Many of the artists whose work is featured on these cards are household names and there are many books dedicated to their work. Perhaps the best-known of the artists was A. R. Quinton who specialised in landscapes and whose work covered the length and breadth of the British Isles. There is a very active body of collectors who specialise in his work and who produce detailed catalogues & listings of those featured on postcards.

However, I was first attracted to Salmon cards through the work of George Rankin - an artist I had come to admire through my interest in Cigarette Cards. Along with other categories, the Natural History cards produced by Salmon are, on the whole, not classified under the Watercolour Series but rather as "Fancy" cards. There is far less documentation to support the collector of Fancy Series cards although there are a number of experts in the field.

Three George Rankin Salmon Postcards [from left to right: 1791, 775 & 1806]

For anyone wanting to know more about Salmon Postcards (whether Watercolours or Fancies) a recommended starting-point would be the Salmon Postcard Study Group. The Group issues a regular Newsletter (The SSG News) and stages events such as visits to the Salmon Factory. It is also a good vehicle for making contact with specialist collectors who can help with information etc. Details of the Salmon Study Group can be obtained by writing to the Secretary:-

There is a vast amount of Natural History material available within the Fancy Series ranging from Animal & Bird portraits through to cartoon-style illustrations. Reproduced below is a fairly small, but hopefully representative, sample of some of the artists and styles of illustration produced over the years. There is one very famous name missing from this selection and that is Louis Wain. His work is highly prized (or should that be priced!) and, as I am not overly fond of anthropomorphic designs, I have managed to avoid that particular "speciality" (for the time being at least).

The major difficulty in collecting Salmon Fancy Postcards lies in the rather haphazard way in which the cards were numbered. There are undoubtedly instances of 6 or 12 consecutive cards forming thematic sets although, even with these, it is not uncommon for a loosely associated "rogue" card to fall in the middle.

More often than not, I have found cards that stand alone or fall within 2 or 3 numbers of each other. This, combined with the fact that the Fancy Series contains groups & singletons of non-Natural History subjects, makes the task of identifying sets (and hence being able to draw-up an "Wants List") almost impossible.

Examples of the Natural History cards produced can be seen from the attached list of Salmon Fancy Postcards.

The Card Mine