Thursday, September 15, 2011

3D (or lenticular) Space Postcards (1960s)

Unfortunately something that I collect that does not scan very well are lenticular postcards.

I remember these from my childhood and have been picking them up slowly over the last couple of years.  They are a unique form of space art and show an interesting creativity.  Most were made from 3D models that  were photographed. So the artist had to come up with models, a pose, and a background that would make the right effect.

This space station is one of my favorites for it's excellent 3D effect. I also have a few larger lenticular items, usually these are the same images as the postcards only larger.


 The postcards I collect fall mostly around the landing on the Moon.  The anticipation of what it might look like and especially what a U.S. flag would look like on the moon created a number of postcards.


Some of these are made with GI Joes (or action Man) while others are the Gemini astronaut model.

I also like trying to date the postcards by which model of the Lunar Lander they chose.

I like to think of these as postcards from a future that had not happened yet.  I will leave you with one more postcard from a future that was predicted in 1968 and still hasn't happened:

3 comments:

  1. Very cool stuff. I wonder if you could take multiple photos of the lenticular cards and stitch them together into an animated gif?

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  2. Phenomenal! I gotta say, though the "futuristic" ones are fun, I love love love the VAB one. I've never seen these before, but now have them on my radar ... big time!

    So glad I stumbled on your blog. I'm in heaven here!

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  3. This is great, great stuff. I have the astronaut floating in space, which I found in a little shop near Miami, but anything larger than a postcard is really hard to find. I wish I could afford the big 2001 space station poster, but it'll have to remain a dream until I make my first million. Thanks for putting these up on the web.

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