James Kirkwood

James Kirkwood, Sr. (February 22, 1875 – August 24, 1963), American actor and director, original vintage real photo postcard (RPPC). Published by Kraus Mfg. Co., New York. 

He debuted on screen in 1909 and was soon playing leads for D.W. Griffith. He started directing in 1912, and became a favorite of Mary Pickford. In 1923 he married actress Lila Lee; with her, he had a son, James Kirkwood, Jr., who became a writer. His directing career fizzled in 1920, but he continued acting well into the 1950s.

His film career would span more than two hundred films over nearly a half century. Many years later his son, James Jr., would become a successful writer, winning both a Tony Award and a Pulitzer Prize for A Chorus Line.

Beginning in 1902 Kodak offered a preprinted card back that allowed postcards to be made directly from negatives. This technology allowed photographers to travel from town to town and document life in the places they visited. Local entrepreneurs hired them to record area events and the homes of prominent citizens. These postcards documented important buildings and sites, as well as parades, fires, and floods.  Real Photo postcards (RPPCs) became expressions of pride in home and community.

While Kodak was certainly the major promoter of photo postcard production, they didn't seem to originate the term "Real Photo," and used it less frequently than photographers and others in the marketplace from 1903 to ca. 1930. But it has become the popular term today to distinguish photographic postcards from commercially printed, mass-produced postcards of the same era. Real Photo postcards have made for millions of 'one-off' photographs, where the photographer may have produced a single or a small number of prints from one negative.

This vintage real photo postcard, measuring 3.5 x 5.5 inches is in fine condition showing light signs of age and toning. Verso bears original RPPC graphics and slight mounting traces.