Real Photos

A real photo postcard (RPPC) is one that was not printed, but rather developed on photographic paper with a postcard back.  Many dealers mistakenly advertise any card whose image started as a photograph as a real photo postcard.  When in doubt, double check.  The vast majority of ALL Boy Scout postcards were real photo cards.  Of the first five million Scouts who put on a uniform, a huge number had their photograph taken either by their parents or a photographer.  These were then printed on postcard backs and sent to relatives.  There were probably more than 750,000 such cards made.  Most did not survive: a reasonable estimate is that there are about 75,000 cards that can be found.  Although any one of them that exists today may actually be unique, as a group, they are relatively quite common.  For a very large number of them, it is impossible to identify either the individual or the location.  Never-the-less, it is quite possible to accumulate a nice collection of real photo Boy Scout postcards.  Concentrate on those that are identified.  You might want to find some that show different badges of rank, different badges of office, different uniform parts. (For example: at different times Scouts wore puttees, spats, or long woolen socks - there were several different hat styles, and so forth.) More desirable real photos are identified.  They fit into some topic (q.v.) such as transportation by including cars, buses, canoes, or bicycles.  They may document Scouting activities or disaster relief such as service following the tornado that struck Springport, Michigan in 1911.