Yesterdays-Paper on DeviantArthttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/https://www.deviantart.com/yesterdays-paper/art/Ring-necked-Pheasant-Couple-695223122Yesterdays-Paper

Deviation Actions

Yesterdays-Paper's avatar

Ring-necked Pheasant Couple

Published:
792 Views

Description

Vintage advertising post card
Circa 1909 


Illustrated by Chester A. Reed
Published by Chas. K. Reed, Worcester Mass.

#13 of series
Part of a set of 18 cards promoting a pioneering bird-watching guide from 1909European Greenfinch Bird-Cardinal iconFinch-Bird icon.2 Blue Jay-Bird icon Finch-Bird icon 

Paint Palette Icon mid About the artist - Chester A. Reed (1876 - 1912) 

Chester A. Reed was a good teacher, but also a great artist. It is not surprising that, in 1896, at his graduation from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute with a diploma in electrical engineering, he decided to join his father’s taxidermy enterprise. Even though he was already recognized as an artist by his classmates at the polytechnic institute, his 2-years of training in technical drawing prepared him to communicate his long-time passion, the practice of ornithology.

The magazine “American Ornithology for the Home and School, 1901-1906” gave him the chance to show his talents as an artist, but also to introduce ornithology enthusiasts to bird observation. With that in mind, Chester published his first bird identification chart based on color characteristics in February 1902.

It was the first time that ornithology enthusiasts were provided with a technical tool that allowed them to identify birds easily from a distance, without having to kill the bird, a method that was commonly used at the time.  For the first time, bird drawings were made according to their technical identification characteristics and the colors were used to mirror the birds in the wild reliably. Chester’s academic artistic training helped him draw technical scale representations of each species.

From the success of that chart, two books soon followed an by 1906 over 27,000 "bird guides" had been sold in the U.S. His books were the start of the birding “Field Guides” that we know today. 

The artist died in 1912 at the age of 36, leaving behind an unfinished book of birds of North America.  All ornithologists, enthusiasts and professionals, as well as naturalists who lived before the Great Depression, were influenced by Chester A. Reed’s work. He died too young to realize all of his projects and, most importantly, he never lived to enjoy the great success of his “Bird Guides.” by the 1940's over 919,000 copies of four books (3 on birds, & one on wildflowers) had sold worldwide. 


#oldpostcard #postcardstock #deltiology #vintagestock #postcards
Vintage item from my post card and ephemera collections, free stock for yours.
Use however you like. Enjoy! :heart:
Big Blue Bird mail Icon My Gallery yesterdays-paper.deviantart.co… Eastern bluebird Icon 
Red Raven PrintOrange Raven PrintYellow Raven PrintGreen Raven PrintBlue Raven PrintViolet Raven PrintRaven PrintBlack Raven PrintGrey Raven PrintRed Raven PrintOrange Raven PrintYellow Raven PrintGreen Raven PrintBlue Raven PrintViolet Raven PrintRaven Print 
Goldfinch by Yesterdays-Paper  New England Birds - Scarlet Tanager by Yesterdays-Paper  Great Spotted Woodpeckers by Yesterdays-Paper  Prairie Chicken by Yesterdays-Paper 
Deltiology = The collection and study of postcards.
:iconvintage-postcards: Watch Vintage-Postcards group to see more old cards.
Do you enjoy history, art, or the written word? Postcard collecting is an enriching, low cost hobby that combines all three!
Artist info source -  chester-reed.org/en/first-fiel…
Image size
1566x1004px 680.43 KB
Comments2
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In