Curt Teich

Curt Teich (1877–1974) was a printer who immigrated to the United States from Lobenstein, Germany in 1896. Curt Teich & Company opened in January 1898 in Chicago, Illinois and closed in 1978. The Teich Company was the world's largest printer of view and advertising postcards. Teich is best known for its "Greetings From" postcards with their big letters, vivid colors, and bold style.^[1]

Curt and his wife Anna Niether Teich lived in Glenview, Illinois. They had five children — Curt Jr., Walter, Louise, Lawrence, and Ralph. Lawrence was killed in Bataan. Louise (Raymond Chmelik) had four children—Raymond (Mike), Susan-Ann, James and Christine. James Chmelik had 9 children - James Chmelik Jr., Melissa Chmelik, Joshua Chmelik, Rebecca Chmelik, Sean (Lawrence) Chmelik, Tyler Chmelik, Collen Chmelik, Elizabeth Chmelik, and Cory Chmelik. Ralph donated the archives of the company to the Lake County Discovery Museum in Illinois, so they may continue to be used for research purposes.

From the start the Teich Company postcards were numbered, at first with only numbers, as in:

1900-1908 : 1 - 14989

Later series were identified with letters as well as numbers:

1908-1928 : Numbers preceding A

1929 : 1 - 29 - 6262 - 29

1930 : 1 - 30 - 2934 - 30

1930s : A or AH + year (1 = 1931 / 2 = 1932 ...) + postcard number

1940s : B + year (1 = 1941 / 2 = 1942 ...)

1950s : C + year (1 = 1951 / 2 = 1952 ...)

1960s : DK + year (1 = 1961 / 2 = 1962 ...)

1970s : EK + year (1 = 1971 / 2 = 1972 ...)

External links

• Curt Teich Postcard Archives -- The Curt Teich Postcard Archives, located in Wauconda, Illinois, is the largest public collection of postcards and related material in North America.
• Chicago Postcard Museum -- A large collection of Chicago rare, antique, vintage and contemporary postcards with many from Curt Teich.

Notes and references