Historic Single-Owner WWI US Navy Real Photo Postcard (RPPC) Archive – Over 200 Cards (All Pictured)Up for absolute sale is a truly exceptional, museum-grade piece of naval history. This is a comprehensive, single-owner collection of over 200 postcards documenting a US Navy sailor’s complete service journey during World War I.The vast majority of this archive consists of highly detailed Real Photo Postcards (RPPCs). The collection was recently carefully removed from a failing period album. As is typical with intact albums, the cards show light corner toning/bands where they were protected by paper mounting corners for over a century. The photographic surfaces remain sharp with excellent contrast, minimal silvering, and crisp edges.🌟 CONDITION HIGHLIGHT: With a few exceptions, the vast majority of these postcards are BLANK/UNPOSTED ON THE BACK. This is highly desirable for collectors, as the photographic fronts are completely clean and free of postmark ink, post-office damage, or bleeding handwriting.⚓ THE CROWN JEWELS OF THE COLLECTION
10 USS Louisiana Mascot Cards: An incredibly rare, high-premium subset featuring the animal mascots aboard the USS Louisiana. Animal mascot photography from WWI battleships is highly localized and intensely collected.
Pearl Harbor Historical Ships: Features exceptional, crisp real photos of the legendary dreadnoughts USS Oklahoma (BB-37) and USS Utah (BB-31) (both later lost at Pearl Harbor), alongside the scarcer pre-dreadnought USS Maine (BB-10).
Action & Operational \"Live\" Photography: Nearly 100 on-board action shots highlighting daily life, heavy ship maneuvering, cutting through active ice fields, and rare torpedo training sequences (\"Torpedoes Being Proved at Cape Cod Bay USS LA\" and \"Wake of Torpedo from USS Louisiana\").
📋 COMPLETE LOT BREAKDOWN & TIMELINE
This lot maps out the sailor\'s exact deployment timeline, beginning with training in North Carolina, moving through transit to Cuba, and ultimately serving in the European theater at Bordeaux and Rochefort, France.10 Ship Mascot RPPCs (All from the USS Louisiana)
~100 \"Live\" Action Onboard Activity & Ice Maneuvering RPPCs (Mostly USS Louisiana)
~20 Posed Group Shots of Sailors and Officers
4 Color Postcards dated Oct 22, 1918 from Hamlet, NC (plus 1 undated SC State Capitol view)
26 Commercial / View Postcards from Bordeaux and Rochefort, France
3 Rare Regional RPPCs (2 from Cork, Ireland; 1 from Cuba)
A massive fleet of individual Named Capital Ships & Vessels, including:
USS Oklahoma (Pearl Harbor Casualty)
USS Utah (Pearl Harbor Casualty)
USS Maine (BB-10, rare early decommissioning)
USS Texas (\"Trophy Ship\")
USS Leviathan & Baron Von Steuben (Seized German vessels converted to US Transports)
French Cruiser \"Conde\"
Three German Ships Seized by U.S. Government
President\'s Yacht Mayflower (Steaming between the fleet with the Secretary of the Navy)
Submarines Alongside Mothership Tallahassee
Additional Battleships: Louisiana, Bushnell, Delaware, Nebraska, Baltimore, Kearsarge, Connecticut, Georgia, Rhode Island, Alabama, North Carolina, Albany, Kansas, Illinois, Seattle, Pocahontas, Virginia, Michigan, Nevada, Wyoming, and Jacob Jones.
🔍 Collector Note & Terms
This lot is being sold strictly as an intact, complete archive. We will not break up this collection under any circumstances. The true historical and monetary value lies in its complete provenance, charting a single sailor\'s wartime sacrifice. All postcards are pictured in this listing. Please review the high-resolution photos for precise physical condition details.📦 Shipping & Handling: Tracked and fully insured to ensure safe transit to your collection or archive.
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