Photographer John Boyd Ellis

John Boyd Ellis was born in Perry, Iowa, on July 25, 1894. His family later moved to Olympia, Washington, where he grew up before attending both the University of Washington in Seattle and the institution now known as Western Washington University in Bellingham.

Ellis entered public education after college and eventually became principal of Marysville High School. He married Hazel Duxbury in 1918, and their son, Clifford Boyd Ellis, was born the following year. Clifford would later join his father in the photography business and eventually take over the company.

In 1921, Boyd Ellis left education and purchased the Photo Art Studio in Arlington, Washington. From this studio, he established what would become the Ellis Post Card Company.

The timing was favorable. Automobile tourism was expanding, Washington highways were improving, and travelers increasingly wanted inexpensive photographic souvenirs of the places they visited. Ellis traveled extensively, photographing towns, mountains, roads, civic buildings, industrial operations, and tourist attractions throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Many Ellis postcards feature the natural beauty and industry of the coastal Puget Sound countryside surrounding his Arlington home. His broader catalog, however, reached across Washington and into Oregon, Montana, British Columbia, and Alaska.

A photographic record of the Pacific Northwest

Ellis photographed a wide range of subjects, including:

• Downtown streets and commercial districts
• Schools, churches, courthouses, and civic buildings
• Logging trucks, mills, and industrial equipment
• Mountains, lakes, waterfalls, and parks
• Highways, bridges, ferries, and railroads
• Hotels, motels, restaurants, and roadside businesses
• Military installations and shipyards
• Resorts and tourist attractions

Ellis returned to many communities repeatedly. His postcards sometimes document the same downtown streets during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, creating a visual record of changing businesses, automobiles, architecture, and public infrastructure.

The company is believed to have produced approximately 5,000 different postcard views during the careers of Boyd and Clifford Ellis. Surviving Ellis cards carry numbers extending into the thousands, although these numbers do not represent a simple chronological sequence. Boyd occasionally reused numbers, and there are substantial gaps in the surviving catalog.

Not every photograph published under the Ellis name was necessarily taken by Boyd or Clifford. The University of Washington collection identifies some Ellis postcards that credit other photographers. This suggests that the company occasionally acted as a publisher or distributor for images supplied by photographers working in other communities.

Identifying Ellis postcards

The classic Ellis postcard is a black-and-white real photo postcard with a sharply detailed photographic image. Earlier examples frequently include a handwritten-style caption within the negative, along with the name Ellis and an identifying number near a lower corner.

A genuine real photo postcard will generally show smooth, continuous photographic tones rather than the regular dot pattern found in a mechanically printed halftone image.

Collectors should examine each card individually:

• Continuous tones generally indicate a photographic print.
• A visible pattern of printed dots indicates a halftone reproduction.
• The Ellis name alone does not establish that a card is an RPPC.
• Stamp-box markings may help estimate when a card was printed.
• The photograph may have been taken years before a particular card was produced.
• Popular images may have been reprinted on different postcard stocks.

The Ellis Post Card Company later expanded into commercially printed color postcards. The University of Washington collection identifies a separate color series with numbers beginning with the letter C.

These later cards were often produced from Ektachrome or Kodachrome photographs and commercially printed by companies such as Dexter Press. They are properly classified as chrome postcards rather than real photo postcards, even when the original photograph was taken by Boyd or Clifford Ellis.

Collectors may encounter Ellis images in several formats:

• Black-and-white real photo postcards
• Sepia-toned photographic postcards
• Commercially printed black-and-white cards
• Color chrome postcards
• Larger gelatin silver photographs
• Hand-colored or hand-tinted photographic prints

Clifford Boyd Ellis

Clifford learned photography while accompanying his father on trips throughout the Pacific Northwest. He eventually joined the family business and helped update the company’s catalog with contemporary subjects.

When Boyd retired in 1959, Clifford assumed control of the Ellis Post Card Company. He continued producing postcards featuring modern highways, commercial buildings, aerial views, tourist destinations, and other subjects reflecting the changing Pacific Northwest.

Clifford’s work is particularly associated with the company’s later color postcard period.

The Ellis Post Card Company continued operating until 1990, when Clifford sold the business to the Tacoma-based Smith-Western Company. Boyd Ellis died in 1983, and Clifford died in 1992.

Notes and market conditions from North West Postcards

Postcards from the Ellis Post Card Company are commonly found throughout the Pacific Northwest. The company’s large output, broad geographic reach, and long operating period mean that the Ellis name alone does not make a card scarce or especially valuable.

Later color chrome postcards generally occupy the inexpensive end of the market. Common scenic views can often be found for approximately $2 to $5, although dealers may ask more for cards in excellent condition or for cards depicting desirable locations.

Common black-and-white Ellis real photo postcards generally sell or are listed between approximately $5 and $15.

The strongest Ellis cards are valued primarily for their subject rather than the photographer’s name. Better examples may include:

• Small towns with few surviving photographic views
• Downtown scenes with readable business signs
• Logging trucks, mills, and heavy equipment
• Railroads, ferries, ships, and early highways
• Military bases, shipyards, and wartime activity
• Named hotels, restaurants, resorts, and service stations
• Early automobiles and roadside architecture
• Disasters, fires, floods, or construction projects
• Unusual occupations or community events
• Humorous exaggeration cards and novelty subjects
• Particularly sharp or well-composed photographs

These stronger cards may justify prices between approximately $15 and $30. Scarce small-town views, dramatic industrial scenes, and subjects with strong local collector interest can sell for more.

Conversely, a common Mount Rainier, Snoqualmie Falls, or highway view may remain inexpensive even when it is an attractive and well-preserved real photo postcard.

Condition also plays an important role. Creases, heavy silvering, fading, stains, surface abrasions, and writing across the image can substantially reduce value. Minor corner wear or writing on the back is generally less concerning when the subject is scarce.

One of the company’s most recognizable novelty images depicts a young Clifford Ellis apparently riding an enormous geoduck. Exaggeration cards such as this can attract collectors beyond the normal market for Washington town and scenic views.

Larger Ellis photographs are less commonly encountered than postcards. Their values depend heavily on subject, size, condition, presentation, attribution, and provenance. There is not enough public sales information to establish a consistent fine-art market for these larger works.

Additional reading

• "J. Boyd and Clifford B. Ellis photographs, circa 1945–1970", University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections.
• "The Traveling Postcard Photographers of Anacortes", Anacortes Museum.
• "ELLIS, Clifford Boyd — Personal Record", Anacortes Museum & Maritime Heritage Center.
• "Mainstream on Main Street", Paul Dorpat, The Seattle Times, October 22, 2006.
• "Snoqualmie Falls Real Photo Postcard by Ellis — Number 104", Twin Peaks Blog.
• "Road Trippin’ With J. Boyd Ellis", Little Virtual Museum in the Coulee.

Example postcards