Albertype Co.

The Albertype Co., headquartered in Brooklyn, N.Y., produced postcards and other printed materials from 1890 until 1952. The company utilized a specific photomechanical processes process that had been invented by Joseph Albert in Australia in the late 1860s. Albert's process was an improvement on the collotype photographic process. The company had teams of photographers who traveled across the United States taking and buying images depicting people, places, and activities in all parts of the country. The images were published as postcards and marketed to be sold in the locales depicted in the images.

From the guide to the Albertype Co. Collection of North Carolina Photographs, circa 1900-1930s, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. North Carolina Collection.)

The Albertype Co., headquartered in Brooklyn, N.Y., produced postcards and other printed materials from 1890 until 1952. The company utilized a specific photomechanical processes process invented by Joseph Albert in Australia in the late 1860s, which was an improvement on the collotype photographic process. The company had teams of photographers who traveled across the United States taking and buying images depicting people, places, and activities in all parts of the country. A majority of the images were published as postcards and marketed to be sold in the locales depicted in the images.

From the description of Albertype Co. collection of North Carolina photographs, circa 1900-1930s. WorldCat record id: 731709884

The Albertype Company was a Brooklyn-based publisher that was founded by brothers Adolph and Herman L. Wittemann. In 1890, the publishing company, originally established as the Wittemann Brothers circa 1879, changed its name to the Albertype Company, denoting the company's use of the collotype (or albertype) photographic process. The company operated from 1890 to 1952 and produced over 25,000 prints. The Albertype Company both produced their own photographs (Adolph was a photographer), as well as reproduced photographic images produced by other companies or individual photographers. Using the prints, the company published postcards and viewbooks. Viewbooks, also known as souvenir albums or view albums, are books that contain commercially published groups of photographs depicting a place, activity, or event.

From the guide to the Brooklyn: Photographs in Black, viewbook, 1891, (Brooklyn Historical Society)

The Albertype Company was a Brooklyn-based publisher that was founded by brothers Adolph and Herman Wittemann in 1890. The publishing company, originally known as Wittemann Brothers, operated from 1890 to 1952 and produced over 25,000 prints. Albertype Company produced their own photographs, as well as reproduced photographic images produced by other companies or individual photographers. The company published postcards and viewbooks. Viewbooks, also called souvenir albums or view albums, are books that contain commercially published groups of photographs depicting a place, activity, or event.

From the guide to the Albertype Company viewbooks of New York City, 1902-1939, (Brooklyn Historical Society)

Flatbush, located in central Brooklyn, was one of the original six towns of Brooklyn. First settled by the Dutch in the 1630s, Flatbush was granted a patent of township by Director-General Peter Stuyvesant in 1652. Flatbush then came under British rule when the British invaded New Amsterdam (now New York City) in 1664. During the 1670s, Flatbush fell back under Dutch control for a short time before returning again to British rule. The Town of Flatbush was annexed by the City of Brooklyn in 1894 and the City of Brooklyn was then incorporated into New York City in 1898. For most of its history, Flatbush was a rural community, populated with farms. Today, Flatbush is a neighborhood in the borough of Brooklyn and is comprised of numerous smaller neighborhoods including Midwood, Ditmas Park, Fiske Terrace, Beverly Square (East and West), Prospect Park South, Caton Park, and Albemarle-Kenmore Terraces.

Viewbooks, also called souvenir albums or view albums, are books that contain commercially published groups of photographs depicting a place, activity, or event.

Charles A. Ditmas (1887-1938) was a descendent of the Lott family, one of the early Dutch families that settled in Brooklyn in the mid-1600s. Ditmas was a local historian and genealogist who, in these capacities, was a founder and president of the Kings County Historical Society, served as assistant librarian at the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, and wrote and published numerous genealogies of Brooklyn families and histories of local places and events. Ditmas focused his work primarily on the present-day adjoining neighborhoods of Flatlands and Flatbush, which previously had been two of the original six towns of Brooklyn. Today, the Brooklyn neighborhood of Ditmas Park, as well as Ditmas Avenue, denote the influence the Ditmas family had on shaping Brooklyn.

From the guide to the Brooklyn's Garden: Views of Picturesque Flatbush, viewbook, 1908, (Brooklyn Historical Society)

Long Island is an 118-mile-long island located in southeastern New York State, just east of the island of Manhattan. Long Island is comprised of four counties: Suffolk County, Nassau County, Queens County, and Kings County. Babylon, N.Y. and Fire Island, N.Y., are part of Suffolk County which occupies the eastern-most portion of Long Island. Suffolk County is the largest of the four counties by area and is known for its rich, fertile farmland and vast coastline.

The Albertype Company was a Brooklyn-based publisher that was founded by brothers Adolph and Herman L. Wittemann. In 1890, the publishing company, originally established as Wittemann Brothers circa 1879, changed its name to the Albertype Company, denoting the company's use of the collotype (or albertype) photographic process. The company operated from 1890 to 1952 and produced over 25,000 prints. The Albertype Company both produced their own photographs (Adolph was a photographer), as well as reproduced photographic images produced by other companies or individual photographers. Using the prints, the company published postcards and viewbooks. Viewbooks, also known as souvenir albums or view albums, are books that contain commercially published groups of photographs depicting a place, activity, or event.

From the guide to the Souvenir of Babylon and Fire Island, viewbook, 1889, (Brooklyn Historical Society)

The Albertype Company was a Brooklyn-based publisher that was founded by brothers Adolph and Herman Wittemann in 1890. The publishing company, originally known as Wittemann Brothers, operated from 1890 to 1952 and produced over 25,000 prints. Albertype Company produced their own photographs, as well as reproduced photographic images produced by other companies or individual photographers. The company published postcards and viewbooks. Viewbooks, also called souvenir albums or view albums, are books that contain commercially published groups of photographs depicting a place, activity, or event.

From the guide to the Albertype Company viewbook of Brooklyn, 1904, (Brooklyn Historical Society)