Rare early picture postcards of the Turks & Caicos Islands.

By Jeff Dodge

Editor’s note: Jeff Dodge is a deltiologist (a person who collects postcards for a hobby), historian, and valuable and stalwart contributor to Times of the Islands for over a decade. His initial articles focused on the early postcards of the Turks & Caicos Islands that he has been collecting for 25 years. He also branched off into other historic subjects, including the “Modern Crusoes” who tried to build a utopia on East Caicos; the controversial ownership of Breezy Point, East Caicos; 19th century salt proprietor John Reynolds; and the inscriptions at West Harbour Bluff on Providenciales.

What follows is his fascinating exposition of the rare “early picture postcards” of the Turks & Caicos. The images include some very rare treasures that few have seen. They offer a glimpse into the Islands of yesteryear.

This article only shows a sampling of Jeff Dodge’s amazing collection. He has highlighted 16 rare postcards in the original article that can be found in the printed copy of Spring 2025 Times of the Islands or viewed on the flippable magazine found on the home page of this website.

The beginning

My wife and I went to Grand Turk on a diving vacation in the mid 1990s and we stayed at the Salt Raker Inn. It wasn’t long before we realized that the bar at the Salt Raker was a popular spot for the local after-work crowd. It was at the bar one afternoon, following a day of diving with Mitch Rollins, that we ran into Brian Riggs, who was the manager of the Turks & Caicos National Museum at the time. Our conversation ended with Brian urging us to visit the museum, which we did a day or two later.

This rare postcard depicting the salt industry was produced in England in 1908.

During our visit to the museum I saw an exhibit of early picture postcards of the Islands—most were images of Grand Turk and the salt industry. (Note that when I mean “early,” I’m talking about picture postcards that were produced before 1935.)

On my return to our home in Maine, I found that early postcards like the ones I saw at the museum, were sometimes offered for sale on websites such as Ebay, CardCow, Delcampe, and Pennymead. I was also occasionally able to purchase postcards from private collectors.

Over the 25+ years I’ve been collecting early postcards of the Turks & Caicos Islands I have amassed over 72 different ones dating from 1904 to 1933. Some are fairly common and some I have only seen offered for sale once in my many years of collecting.  A few of the rarest ones are depicted in this article.

History of picture postcards

Picture postcards were first introduced in England in 1894. Five years later their size was standardized at 5 1/2 X 3 1/2 inches. In 1899, the divided back was introduced, allowing one to write both a message and the address on the back side of the postcard. Prior to then, a few words could only be written on the front of the postcard—next to the picture.

Among the rarest

This rare Real Photo Postcard was produced by the photographer, possibly Edmund N. Coverley, circa 1904.

Some of the earliest and rarest picture postcards of Grand Turk were produced by the person who took the photograph. One of these photographers was Edmund N. Coverley (b1875 — d1927). He was a Grand Turk shopkeeper as well as a photographer—Coverley had a darkroom in the rear of his store where he could develop and print his photographs. Coverley probably used a Kodak 3A camera that produced a negative the same size as a postcard. He could then print the negative (a contact print) directly on photographic paper having a pre-printed postcard back, such as Ansco’s CYKO paper. 

Postcards made in this manner are known as Real Photo Postcards (RPPC). Note that in the example on the opposite page, there is space for the message to be written on the front.  Just the address would be on the back.

1904 John Walker & Co. postcards

This rare circa 1904 Real Photo Postcard depicts the American Consulate on Grand Turk. Edmund Neale Coverley probably took this photograph and produced the postcard.

In 1904, the English company John Walker & Co. Ltd. produced a series of at least 6 postcards depicting scenes found on Grand Turk. This company also produced postcards from photos taken on Barbados and Nassau, so it is likely the John Walker Company sent a photographer from island to island to take photos from which they produced postcards to sell to shop owners on those islands, who would in turn sell them to visitors and tourists.

Postcards produced in 1906

A series of at least 14 postcards having the same design were produced in 1906 of scenes on Grand Turk and South Caicos. I believe these postcards were produced for Frith Brothers & Co. to sell in their store on Front Street, Grand Turk. I’m basing this on the fact that two of the postcards in this group are of a salt pan and a salt storage shed both owned by Frith Bros. & Co.—they are so identified in the titles. Or, it’s possible they were produced for the Harriott family of Salt Cay, based on a postcard Lillian Harriot sent to a collector in Denmark saying that it was “one from our new set of postcards.”

This Edmund N. Coverley real photo postcard is perhaps one the rarest in Jeff Dodge’s collection.

Very rare 1908 postcards

In 1908 a group of at least 5 postcards were produced in England of scenes on Grand Turk. The two postcards below are from this group and are very rare. Both show two different means by which salt water (pickle) was moved from one salt pond to another during the solar evaporation process used to extract salt from seawater. 

Coverley’s postcards

In 1909–1910, Edmund N. Coverley had a series of color postcards produced by Stengel & Co. of Saxony, Germany from his photographs. None are very rare, but the one below may be the rarest of this group. A sepia version was produced from the same photo used for the colored postcard—it was  produced by Stengel & Co. just prior to Coverley’s death in 1927.

Rare tinted postcards

This 1910 colored postcard of North Wells, Grand Turk was printed by Stengel & Co.

The Photo-Roto Co. of New York City printed a series of tinted picture postcards in 1921. Edmund Coverley’s photos were used for some, if not all, of these postcards suggesting that they may have been produced for him. Some of the photos used for these postcards were previously used in 1906. All of the tinted postcards are scarce, the one at right is possibly the rarest. 

1933 postcards printed in Britain

There are at least 11 postcards in this group. Just a few must have been produced as they are scarce—I have only four in my collection. Of the few I have, the one below is the most interesting. 

Real Photo Postcards of Palm Grove—Home of B.C. Frith

B.C. Frith and his family had several postcards of their home, Palm Grove, produced between 1910 and 1926. Some were printed in the UK and others were printed by a photographer using paper designed to be used for postcards. There are at least four different postcards like these and all are very rare as they were probably for family use and were never sold commercially.

Postcards in the TCNM collection

The Turks & Caicos National Museum (TCNM) has many early picture postcards of the Islands. The rarest pre-1935 postcards are Real Photo Postcards (RPPC) produced from photographs taken by amateur photographers living on Grand Turk. 

Edmund Coverley has already been mentioned. Other local photographers included John Copeland Crisson, the owner and editor of the Chronicle and Dependency News, and Robert Challis, an employee of the Halifax and Bermuda Cable Co. (later renamed Cable and Wireless Co.). Both amateur photographers turned some of their photographs into postcards. The two photographers probably produced their postcards themselves. 

This Real Photo Postcard of the 1926 hurricane damage to government buildings on Grand Turk was photographed and printed by John Crisson.

Two examples of these very scarce postcards are both in the collection of the Turks & Caicos National Museum. 

Many of Crisson’s photos were of the damage caused by the hurricane of September 1926. Postcards produced by these amateur photographers were probably primarily for their own use. In over 25 years of collecting early picture postcards of the Turks & Caicos Islands, I have never seen a Crisson or Challis postcard offered for sale. I have none in my collection.

Summary

I have enjoyed collecting these postcards, not only for the interesting pictures on them, but for compelling me to learn about the history behind their images. 

Over the last few years, I’ve noticed that early picture postcards of the Turks & Caicos Islands are no longer easy to acquire—I see very few being offered for sale. Perhaps the reason is that they are becoming scarce and therefore, expensive or that collecting postcards is no longer a popular hobby.