A postcard created by Alfred Stanley Johnson of Waupun, Wisconsin. The top image shows the original, unedited picture which Johnson used to create the trick effect. The children posed, holding wooden props. Johnson then cut and pasted a picture of a watermelon slice into this picture to create the finished postcard (bottom): an illusion of a children's party featuring a giant watermelon.
Tall-tale postcards experienced the peak of their popularity from 1905 to 1915, but cards of this kind are still being created and sent today. And the internet, combined with software that makes it easier than ever to manipulate images, has breathed new life into the genre of tall-tale photography.
Links and References
Rubin, C.E. & Williams, M. (1990). Larger Than Life: The American Tall-Tale Postcard, 1905-1915. Abbeville Press: p. 108.
