Leon, I do not know where they were printed, although I would be confident in saying Mendelsohn was responsible; i.e., that the order was placed with his publishing company.
If you ignore the top portion, it seems clear to me that the advertising about the cards (not product) was printed. The trickier part concerns the upper logo. As you can see from your array, Holmes to Homes is the only m101 card to use a logo or any artwork–the rest simply use different font styles and sizes. The depiction used for the baker seems to be the same as appears on the bread wrappers used by the Holmes bakery, and was almost certainly trademarked. As such, it most likely came from the customer itself, and had to be adapted for use by whoever was printing it. That probably posed some problems when applying the ink, as the logo’s features are fairly intricate given the relatively small card on which they were to be reproduced. I have no printing background myself, but to me there is no way that a stamp could produce that fine artwork so consistently on every Holmes to Homes card as is seen–there would be uneven inking that would blur the image. Combined with the fact that these cards are usually found well centered on the reverse, I believe it highly likely they were printed, although the process may have been more involved than what was used for the other advertisers.
EDITED TO ADD: pic of breadloaf (enlarged) used in Holmes to Homes newspaper ad
__________________
Now watch what you say, or they'll be calling you a radical, a liberal, oh, fanatical, criminal
Won't you sign up your name? We'd like to feel you're acceptable, respectable, presentable, a vegetable
If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.- Ulysses S. Grant, 18th US President.
Last edited by nolemmings; 10-20-2019 at 10:59 AM.
|