That I can not resist the phrase "nice big melons" is testimony to my endearing immaturity, but this post does have a more mature message, trust me. Exaggeration post cards are, of course, trite as can be. Ever since the Allman Brothers LP "Eat a Peach" was released in 1971 with a giant peach on the cover, our generation has taken these jumbo agriculture, fish and jackalope cards for granted. Like most postcards, the quantity is endless and the price is low. However, in these grim economic times, they do offer a brief smile, and you can hardly find a less expensive collectible. Thousands were created. These two happen to be good ones. First of all, they are early (one from 1909, the other from 1911) Second, they are in fact "real photo post cards" which are not real. Real photo post cards are actual photos, but they are printed on postcard stock for mailing. At their best, they are printed up in a quantity just enough to fill a narrow demand, say one copy for every member of a family, each participant in an event or everyone who wishes to remember a historical moment. I have always figured 500 tops for most RPPC images, and far less for most, but some have been printed in staggering numbers.
These real photos depict an unreal scene which didn't exist. At the time, it cost one cent to mail them, that's a pretty cheap joke. Postage today would be 27 cents, but you can mail it all the way to Alaska or Hawaii for that, and it includes home delivery. By the way, it is almost an urban myth that Duane Allman, an extraordinary musician, met his death riding his cycle into a peach carrying truck. But the cover shot was indeed a reference to the master of the empty Coricidin bottle slide guitar. I've heard him use the phrase "eat a peach" on a bootleg recording, and even through his magnificent stoned Southern slur, the inflection leaves no doubt he was referring to something much, much more fun than having a piece of fruit. So despite the broken urban myth, the image was a clever and fitting tribute after all.
Two real photo post cards, circa 1909, 1911 Collection Jim Linderman
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