Prisons – Page 3 – Global Postcard Sales

Showing 81–108 of 108 postcards

St. Augustine, Old Watch Tower, Fort Marion (Florida)
Unused old E.C. Kropp postcard 12057, showing what had also been a prison. Grade: 2

Code: 34700085
Price: $2.00
Greetings from Ciudad Juarez (Mexico)
Unused, E.C. Kropp Large Letter card 2424, with the contents of all those letters neatly identified: J – Juarez Monument; U – International Bridge; A – Bull Fight, Grand Parade; R – Public Market; E – Mexican Burro; and Z – Carcel ‘Jail’. Grade: 1

Code: 34700086
Price: $3.00
London, The Tower of London from Tower Bridge
A very old, unused card and this time the problem is with the card, not the scan: the caption at bottom front is only about 70% visible. Grade: 5

Code: 34700087
Price: $0.50
San Francisco, Alcatraz (California)
The cost of this messy card is less than half the value of the (uncancelled) Global Forever stamp used to mail it. We do not advocate recycling this way. We are just describing the card. Grade: 5

Code: 34700088
Price: $0.50
Boise, State Penitentiary (Idaho, USA)
Unused, aging Edward H. Mitchell card 1156. Clean. Grade: 2

Code: 34700089
Price: $4.00
Mont-Saint-Michel. – Cote de l’est (France)
Postmark on the front is indistinct, and the one on the reverse is clear — except for the year, which would be sometime during the 1910s. A search engine will tell you about the prison history. Grade: 3

Code: 34700090
Price: $5.00
New York City, City Prison (The Tombs)
On this unused Success Postal Card (No. 1106), one of the most acerbic captions ever (“Dismal structure of Egyptian architecture …”). Wikipedia leads us to think this was The Tombs II, out of IV. An old and atmospheric card no matter how you look at it. Grade: 2

Code: 34700091
Price: $5.00
La Tuna, Federal Prison (Texas, USA)
Unused Curteich-Chicago “C.T. American Art” card 3A461-N showing this low-security facility that’s still there. Grade: 1

Code: 34700092
Price: $2.00
Moundsville, West Virginia Penitentiary, View showing Entrance (USA)
Edited from Wikipedia: “The West Virginia State Penitentiary is a gothic-style prison … Now withdrawn and retired from prison use, it operated from 1876 to 1995. Currently, the site is maintained as a tourist attraction and training facility.” It was, however, very much in use (“more or less”) when this old postcard was released, no pun intended. Very faint pencil marks on the reverse and slight abrasions on lower right front corner, maybe from an album. Grade: 3

Code: 34700093
Price: $3.00
Dining Hall, Missouri State Penitentiary, Jefferson City (USA)
Wikipedia tells us: “The Missouri State Penitentiary operated from 1836 to 2004. Part of the Missouri Department of Corrections, it served as the state’s primary maximum security institution. Before it closed, it was the oldest operating penal facility west of the Mississippi River. It was replaced by the Jefferson City Correctional Center, which opened on September 15, 2004.” Among prison postcards, this should rank as one of the more unusual. It was mailed in 1909; stamp and postmark are there; and from the message we have no idea whatsoever whether the writer was staying there, or being ironic, or what. Grade: 1

Code: 34700094
Price: $8.00
Penal colony, Port Arthur (Tasmania, Australia)
A Tasmanian prison operating between 1830 and 1877, specialising in persons who had re-offended while in custody. The postcard is unused and has a small stain on the reverse. Grade: 3

Code: 34700095
Price: $1.00
Colorado Territorial Prison Museum, Canon City (USA)
The prison itself opened in 1871, all explained in the caption of this unused prison postcard. Apparently one of the museum’s exhibits is a gas chamber. Grade: 1

Code: 34700096
Price: $1.00
White Tower and other views, Thessaloniki (Greece)
These views are identified in the English caption as: Mountain Olympus, White Tower (which once was a prison), and seafront. Unused. Grade: 1

Code: 34700097
Price: $2.00
The White Tower (Ο ΛΕΥΚΟΣ ΠΥΡΓΟΣ), Thessaloniki (Greece)
Unused. Grade: 1

Code: 34700098
Price: $2.00
Gateway, State Penitentiary (Salem, Oregon, USA)
Unused, old, and appropriately aged. Grade: 2

Code: 34700099
Price: $3.00
Minnesota State Reformatory, St. Cloud (USA)
Still there, still open, though now under a different name: Minnesota Correctional Facility – St. Cloud. This is an unused Curteich-Chicago card 5B-H254, whose caption alone is worth the cost of the card: “…a grey granite wall which is the largest prison wall in the world and is only surpassed by the Great Wall of China…” and there’s more than that. Grade: 1

Code: 34700100
Price: $3.00
New Jersey State Reformatory (USA)
If you Google this, you come away not having a clue where (or even what) this facility is (or was). The unused 1977 card itself is no help, captioned only with what you see and with this header. So we’ll move on and leave the digging to you — so to speak. Grade: 1

Code: 34700101
Price: $2.00
Minnesota State Prison, Stillwater (USA)
A quick search says the present facility was built in Bayport between 1910-1914, but we think this photo might represent something earlier. Not sure about that. Among prison postcards, this unused one is clearly very old (not sure when, but divided back) and in good condition. Grade: 1

Code: 34700102
Price: $4.00
Alcatraz Island Penitentiary, San Francisco (California)
Unused card from Golden Gate National Parks Association. Grade: 1

Code: 34700103
Price: $1.00
Main Prison Gate, Stillwater (Minnesota, USA)
Mailed in 1909, with stamp and clear Minneapolis postmark. Another fine example of prison postcards, and the legend on the front (“Who enters here, leaves hope behind”) makes it clear that rehabilitation was not in their game plan then. Grade: 1

Code: 34700104
Price: $4.00
Alcatraz Island, San Francisco Bay (California)
Unmailed Edward H. Mitchell card 154, quite old, divided back, with penciled notes in the message area about what the visitor might have seen or heard about. Terrific old Alcatraz postcard. Grade: 3

Code: 34700105
Price: $4.00
State Penitentiary, Canon City (Colorado, USA)
Unused Sanborn Souvenir card 5A-182N (601), with a startlingly candid caption and looking almost as-new. Grade: 1

Code: 34700106
Price: $2.00
Ohio State Penitentiary, Columbus (USA)
Mailed in 1954, this linen card (Curteich-Chicago 4A-H320) has a full postmark and — unusually — the writer used a block of four half-cent stamps. It’s nice. The card, maybe not the prison. Grade: 1

Code: 34700107
Price: $8.00
Atlanta, United States Penitentiary (Georgia, USA)
Unused Curteich-Chicago linen postcard 5A-H1060 (109), whose caption kindly provides clear directions on how to get there. There would be other ways to find out, but we would not recommend them. Grade: 1

Code: 34700108
Price: $4.00
Columbus, Bull Pen at Ohio State Penitentiary (USA)
If you are into prison postcards, as we say from time to time, this one should be a good fit with you: unused, light scruffing around the edges, but the photo seems really to draw us in. The facility was decommissioned in the 1990s but still has tours and was used in part as a set for the film Shawshank Redemption. So, technically, you actually can put yourself in this picture. Grade: 2

Code: 34700109
Price: $6.00
Yuma, Territorial Prison and Museum (Arizona, USA)
Unused Petley/Mike Roberts card B941 of a facility decommissioned in 1909. Serrated edges. Grade: 1

Code: 34700110
Price: $2.00
Rawlins, Old Wyoming State Penitentiary (USA)
The prison, in use from 1901 to 1981, “haunted by history” but you can take tours. The card, B&W, unused. Grade: 1

Code: 34700111
Price: $2.00
Atlanta, U.S. Penitentiary (Georgia, USA)
Mailed in 1948 (stamp and postmark are there), one cannot really tell if the Curteich-Chicago card 5A-H1060 (109)’s writer was an inmate or not, but the message gives a clue that he was on the outside. Postmark transfer on the front. Grade: 3

Code: 34700112
Price: $2.00

Showing 81–108 of 108 postcards