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Looking towards Kowloon
Fading and atmospheric unused real photo card #71 published by Brewer & Co., Hongkong. Apart from aging, the card is in great condition. Grade: 1
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West side of a city
Classic antique card. Interesting caption, “WEST SIDE of A CITY. HongKong.” All those tiny dots in the harbour look to be sampans. The card is unused and unattributed, and the usual post card printing on the reverse is upside down. Grade: 2
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Queens and Princess Buildings
Unnumbered, unused Turco-Egyptian Tobacco Store card, normally aged on the front and a bit stained on the back. The land is still there. The buildings aren’t. This is Hong Kong. Grade: 3
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N.S. Rosario and typhoon
A good search engine will give you more of the story, but the caption on this unused M. Sternberg card tells you most of what you need to know. Significant album indents on the corners, and someone has made an inked notation on the reverse of the type of vessel the Rosario was. Grade: 4
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Central Market
This is an unused and unnumbered Turco-Egyptian Tobacco Store postcard, with the pencilled notation “c.1920” on reverse. Card is notably aged but the photo is clear and intact, and is an iconic scene of Hong Kong in that era. Grade: 4
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View of Queen’s Gardens
Two of these unused cards from Hongkong Pictorial Postcard Co. are available, and they are identical in every way but one: though they each have some master index number 616:06, one also has #170318 but the other has #102049. Each of these cards has some album indents on the corners but apart from aging, they’re undamaged. Grades: 2
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Greetings from Hongkong Chinese Fortune Teller
This is another card sometimes seen in reference books. It’s published by M. Sternberg #2418, unused but heavily handled, and has a pencilled notation “c.1900” and other index numbers on the reverse. Grade: 4
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Signalstation on the Peak
Somewhat unremarkable M. Sternberg card 2395, unused but heavily handled and with pencilled notations on reverse including the possible date of 1910. Rounded edges, aged, old. Grade: 4
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The Fountain at the Botanical Garden
Your chance to get this unused O.F. Ribeiro card 34674 at a value price. There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just not too exciting. Grade: 2
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Botanic Garden
Really nice, unused and unattributed real photo specimen showing the early Botanic Garden with great clarity. Compare this one with the more professional but far more boring card on the list just before. The reverse is printed upside down. Grade: 1
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View of Fountain in Botanical Gardens
Unused Hongkong Pictorial Postcard 674:06 (#170328) with corner album indents. Grade: 3
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Chinese Procession in Hongkong
This is a magnificent, unused card. It looks just like Central District at lunch hour! (Just kidding.) (Not really.) From Turco-Egyptian Tobacco Store, the front caption (“Note the long Dragon”) seems like overkill. Grade: 2
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Hongkong Habour (sic)
Unused A.H. & Co. card 352 with the panoramic view and the misspelling of “Harbour” on the front caption. Grade: 2
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Lugard Road The Peak H. Kong
Lugard Road still exists as a popular way to walk around Victoria Peak, but it looks a lot less formidable now than it did when this real photo card was produced. Unused and unattributed card. Grade: 2
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Peak Distric (sic)
Misprint notwithstanding, technically this is the view of Central District and Kowloon from the Peak. The real photo card is unused and unattributed, with album fading on the four corners. The undamaged card is aging, not too gracefully. Grade: 3
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Peak Hotel
Search engines tell us this hotel burned down in 1938. There’s certainly no trace of it now. The real photo card, unused and unattributed, has album indents on the corners, and the lower left corner is significantly creased. We very much wish we could have seen this hotel while it was still standing. Grade: 4
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Flower Street
If you’ve a good eye, you’ll think this is the same as card #20308127, and you would be right except for two things: the caption is written differently, and it has a different publisher. The other one is from M. Sternberg, and this one is from Turco-Egyptian Tobacco, the two companies that had a near-monopoly on Hong Kong’s postcards of the day. This card has an abrasion on the front, and is somewhat stained, but the picture is intact–and beautiful. Grade: 4
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Central Harbour and View of Hongkong
Authentic old unused M. Sternberg card 7745. Mottling a bit on front and reverse, and frankly it’s just a little bleak. But it is the original view, and authentic historical relic. Grade: 2
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Clock Tower from Blake Pier
Hongkong Pictorial Postcard Co. card 632:06 and 174279, unused and in absolutely terrific condition. Grade: 1
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City of Victoria
Unused O.F. Ribeiro card 5995, aging, but looking exactly like a very old postcard should look. That hill is still there. Nothing else is. Grade: 2
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The Peak of Hongkong
This is an unused and unnumbered Turco-Egyptian card, again showing how the Peak area used to be a fair bit more populated down the slopes than it is now. The card shows abrasions around the edge, is heavily aged, and has a vertical crease down the middle. Grade: 4
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Happy Valley
Unattributed card No. 22, made in Germany, unused, very minor corner abrasion. Grade: 2
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Mecca of tourists (Japan Air Lines)
Post-WWII card sub-captioned “Wings of the New Japan,” issued by Japan Air Lines and showing a tranquil view of a quiet harbour. Mottling on the reverse, with minor edge abrasions. Grade: 3
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Junk in Hongkong-Harbour
Card 17 printed in Germany, and Specially Made for The Graeco Egyptian Tobacco Store. Unused. Grade: 2
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Repulse Bay
Multi-coloured, heavily aged postcard printed in Japan. We can’t imagine the original colour looked like this. Grade: 4
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Repulse Bay Hotel (photograph)
This series of 2.5″ x 3.5″ B&W glossy photos appear to have been used as templates for real-photo postcards. We can’t be certain of that, but the presence of captions on some of these photos suggests so. The photos had been attached to albums, so the reverses have some paper adhesions. But the fronts are all very good. And very clear, as well. Grade: 2
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HSBC and Statue Square (photograph)
This series of 2.5″ x 3.5″ B&W glossy photos appear to have been used as templates for real-photo postcards. We can’t be certain of that, but the presence of captions on some of these photos suggests so. The photos had been attached to albums, so the reverses have some paper adhesions. But the fronts are all very good. And very clear, as well. Grade: 2
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Haw Par Mansion (photograph)
This series of 2.5″ x 3.5″ B&W glossy photos appear to have been used as templates for real-photo postcards. We can’t be certain of that, but the presence of captions on some of these photos suggests so. The photos had been attached to albums, so the reverses have some paper adhesions. But the fronts are all very good. And very clear, as well. Grade: 2
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Kowloon Star Ferry and railroad terminus (photograph)
This series of 2.5″ x 3.5″ B&W glossy photos appear to have been used as templates for real-photo postcards. We can’t be certain of that, but the presence of captions on some of these photos suggests so. The photos had been attached to albums, so the reverses have some paper adhesions. But the fronts are all very good. And very clear, as well. Grade: 3
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Street (photograph)
This series of 2.5″ x 3.5″ B&W glossy photos appear to have been used as templates for real-photo postcards. We can’t be certain of that, but the presence of captions on some of these photos suggests so. The photos had been attached to albums, so the reverses have some paper adhesions. But the fronts are all very good. And very clear, as well, though this one is a bit dark. Grade: 2
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Peak from Central (photograph)
This series of 2.5″ x 3.5″ B&W glossy photos appear to have been used as templates for real-photo postcards. We can’t be certain of that, but the presence of captions on some of these photos suggests so. The photos had been attached to albums, so the reverses have some paper adhesions. But the fronts are all very good. And very clear, as well. Grade: 2
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Garden (photograph)
This series of 2.5″ x 3.5″ B&W glossy photos appear to have been used as templates for real-photo postcards. We can’t be certain of that, but the presence of captions on some of these photos suggests so. The photos had been attached to albums, so the reverses have some paper adhesions. But the fronts are all very good. And very clear, as well. Grade: 2
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Main street and rickshaws (photograph)
This series of 2.5″ x 3.5″ B&W glossy photos appear to have been used as templates for real-photo postcards. We can’t be certain of that, but the presence of captions on some of these photos suggests so. The photos had been attached to albums, so the reverses have some paper adhesions. This one however has been folded in half vertically. The picture is rich in detail, though. Grade: 4
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Peak Tram (photograph)
This series of 2.5″ x 3.5″ B&W glossy photos appear to have been used as templates for real-photo postcards. We can’t be certain of that, but the presence of captions on some of these photos suggests so. The photos had been attached to albums, so the reverses have some paper adhesions. But the fronts are all very good. And very clear, as well. Grade: 2
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Rugby, Hong Kong Football Club (2008)
Two of these unused advertising cards from 2008 are available. Grades: 1
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Hong Kong Art School graduation exhibition
The reverse is mostly taken up by details of the exhibition, but if one was determined to send this as a postcard, it could be done. Don’t think it was meant to be one, though. Grade: 1
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Operation Santa Claus
This is an exceptionally worthy Hong Kong charity. Global Postcard Sales is not out to make a profit on any legitimate cause, so the entire proceeds from any sale of the five available cards will go directly to Operation Santa Claus and we will show you that we did so. Unused advertising cards. Grades: 1
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Kwong Sang Hong 1928 new year poster (repro)
This restorative tonic was a big thing back then. While the poster was from 1928 (and not to be confused with the similar 1927 poster we also have), the five unused cards we have are 50 or 60 years newer. Grades: 1
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Kwong Sang Hong 1927 new year poster (repro)
This restorative tonic was a big thing back then. While the poster was from 1927 (and not to be confused with the similar 1928 poster we also have), the unused card we have is 50 or 60 years newer. Grade: 1
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Victoria Peak, Bubba Gump Restaurant
This one needs explanation. The whole item is 3-1/2″ x 7-1/2″. It’s a postcard on the left with perforated coupons on the right, for special offers. Issued in 2008, the card was given to customers of this restaurant on Hong Kong’s Victoria Peak. Sorry, the coupons have expired! But as of this writing, the restaurant is, somehow, still there. Unused. Grade: 1