NEBRASKAland
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MARCH 2015 21
various artists had their
specialties. One of the first
producers was William
Martin of Kansas. He began
producing exaggeration
postcards in 1908. His
cards mainly featured local
crops – ears of corn the size
of wagons, pumpkins the
size of railroad cars and
potatoes large enough for
one to feed a community.
He established the Martin
Post Card Company in
1909 and produced seven
million cards the next year.
F.D. Conard became
known for manipulating
images of giant
grasshoppers. Kansapedia
credits his inspiration to a
grasshopper plague that
descended on Kansas in
1935. "When a swarm of
grasshoppers descended on
Garden City," the Kansas
Historical Society wrote,
"Frank 'Pop' Conrad had a
vision." In his images, men
appear to be in physical
contact with the insects,
fighting them hand to
hand, a grasshopper on
its hind legs reaching over
the head of its human
opponent, delivering
blows with its front
legs. Other images show
grasshoppers milking cows
This generic card doesn't list a location. The back reads "An Average Catch in These Parts? Packing out a giant Rainbow
Trout can sometimes be a real chore. This beauty was one of the largest ever caught in this part of the country."
