Coloured Shell Series - Postcards

The Coloured Shell Series of postcards was first introduced in 1905 and was aimed at both tourists and locals.

Previously, postcards were printed in black and white and on a lower quality card stock.  Few were coloured, and those that were, were hand-tinted.  The Coloured Shell Series, on the otherhand, were photo-based images were printed on good quality cream coloured board, with the bright colours applied by the chromolithography process in Germany.

The series focused on buildings and landscapes of the major Queensland population centres along the east coast, from Coolangatta to Cooktown, and Inland centres like Toowoomba, Charters Towers, and Ipswich.

The series was produced for nearly 10 years, stopping when the outbreak of World War I prevented access to the German printing firms.  During the decade long print run, an estimated 300 images were printed.

Ipswich photographers Benjamin and Laura Taylor, of I.X.L. Studios, are known to have provided images for  Shell black and white postcard series "The Taylor Series".  It is not, at this stage, known if they contributed to the Coloured Shell Series.

Known Ipswich postcards from the Coloured Shell Series include:

• Band stand at Queens Park
• Ipswich Grammar School
• Bremer River, Woodend
• Railway Bridge
• Brisbane Street (looking east)
• Brisbane Street (looking west)
• Brisbane Street, West Ipswich
• Denmark Hill (2 views)
• Ipswich Girls' Grammar School
• Railway Workshops, North Ipswich (2 views)
• Ipswich from Ipswich Grammar School
• Entrance to Queens Park
• Ipswich Railway Station
• View from Limestone Hill