Are the cabinet or Camera cards found on ebay real?

[Anthony DiMattia]

This is my first post here and I have been a lurker for years

I have in my collection a number of cabinet or camera cards, not sure if there is a difference, that show the Olympic's bow, Titanic's bow, Launch of the Titanic, Olympic's grand staircase, Captain Smith, Mackay Bennett Crew, Titanic's Anchor, etc. I wish to know if there is an easy way to tell if they are fake. The photos on all but one of the cards are really sharp, so sharp when magnified with a jeweler's loop you can't see dots. Most of the images are not the common ones you see in books the finish on the photos are matte. I work in the reprographics industry and use some high tech equipment but these by far exceed the quality I can replicate. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Ioannis Georgiou]

Sorry to tell you that all those cabinet cards are fakes! They are on ebay for several years now.
The cabinet card itself is original but the pictures are modern prints and glued on the cards. You will most likely notice it when you try to remove the picture. Also some of the publishers from these card boards did not exist in 1912 and all of them did not produced such Titanic or Olympic ones.
Several show images which were from the H&W collection and other sources and in a few cases new discovered photographs were also produced in that way.

Another faked version which also came up in the recent years are postcards of the kind (pic added). The postcard itself is again original but the front had been removed and a modern print of the ship was glued on it together with the "frame".
There are also versions without the frame - I myself once fooled myself with Titanic - which I only noticed when I had the postcard directly in my hand. I should have known it better as the picture was too clear and the publisher of the "postcard" had never done one about Titanic!

It is sad to see how people get diddled by them and paid hundreds for them. Same as for the reprints (mainly from 1998) of the Daily Mirror about the Titanic which are often listed as originals.

 

[Anthony DiMattia]

Sorry to tell you that all those cabinet cards are fakes! They are on ebay for several years now.
The cabinet card itself is original but the pictures are modern prints and glued on the cards. You will most likely notice it when you try to remove the picture. Also some of the publishers from these card boards did not exist in 1912 and all of them did not produced such Titanic or Olympic ones.
Several show images which were from the H&W collection and other sources and in a few cases new discovered photographs were also produced in that way.

Another faked version which also came up in the recent years are postcards of the kind (pic added). The postcard itself is again original but the front had been removed and a modern print of the ship was glued on it together with the "frame".
There are also versions without the frame - I myself once fooled myself with Titanic - which I only noticed when I had the postcard directly in my hand. I should have known it better as the picture was too clear and the publisher of the "postcard" had never done one about Titanic!

It is sad to see how people get diddled by them and paid hundreds for them. Same as for the reprints (mainly from 1998) of the Daily Mirror about the Titanic which are often listed as originals.

Ioannis

Thank you for your response. The camera cards fooled me but at least I was not fooled by the framed postcards. The fact that the photos themselves had no wear should have been the tip off. Sadly I have paid at least $75 per card although I paid only $40 for the anchor card. The tip off with that card is that it has the same text as the anchor postcard. Thanks again for your response. Happy collecting.

 

[Ioannis Georgiou]

Some original old postcards have also a perfect photo quality but not all of them. It is a bid strange that so many partly "rare" images appear now as postcards and card board!

If you got them recently maybe you can return them and get your money back?
In my case I contacted the seller and told him it was a fake. I was surprised that he directly took them back and gave a full refund without any trouble. At first I thought he was honest but 2 weeks later he sold that postcard again as original!

 

[Anthony DiMattia]

Ioannis

I bought them about 2 years ago, so too long to return them. I got them from two or three different sellers. Live and learn I guess.