Chromolithography
Chromolithography was a technique developed in the late 1700’s that allowed for the color reproduction of artistic images. In the process, multiple plates were used to apply color images in succession, thus creating a color re-print of the original. While this was an older technique, Louis Prang’s mastery of it made mass production truly possible. According to Shank, “In the hands of those who mastered the craft, chromolithography produced color-saturated images that rival the representational power of oil paintings.”[1] The John Grossman Collection of Antique Images states it this way,
Chromolithography, or the technique of "printing in colors," had a dazzling and meteoric life. After centuries of black ink on white paper, chromo-lithography burst onto the American scene about 1840 and then vanished by the 1930s. But during this nearly one hundred year period, chromolithography revolutionized the printing industry and intoxicated the world with lush colorful hues. It transformed calling cards, wedding announcements, greeting cards, tickets, cigar box labels, advertising posters and many other types of printed ephemera into eye-catching works of art that proved too beautiful to be thrown away after temporary use.[2]
Chromolithography, in the hands of Louis Prang, and later pioneers would send Greeting Card production and consumption to never before seen levels and would ultimately revolutionize the industry. Mass production had come to the Greeting Card world, and the next century would be marked by competition and new developments.
[1] Shank, A Token of My Affection: Greeting Cards and American Business Culture, 70.
[2] “Chromolithography.”
Chromolithography, or the technique of "printing in colors," had a dazzling and meteoric life. After centuries of black ink on white paper, chromo-lithography burst onto the American scene about 1840 and then vanished by the 1930s. But during this nearly one hundred year period, chromolithography revolutionized the printing industry and intoxicated the world with lush colorful hues. It transformed calling cards, wedding announcements, greeting cards, tickets, cigar box labels, advertising posters and many other types of printed ephemera into eye-catching works of art that proved too beautiful to be thrown away after temporary use.[2]
Chromolithography, in the hands of Louis Prang, and later pioneers would send Greeting Card production and consumption to never before seen levels and would ultimately revolutionize the industry. Mass production had come to the Greeting Card world, and the next century would be marked by competition and new developments.
[1] Shank, A Token of My Affection: Greeting Cards and American Business Culture, 70.
[2] “Chromolithography.”