John V. Dedrick Checklist

John V. Dedrick Checklist

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Our Annual Show

John V. Dedrick Checklist

Numbered and Illustrated Checklist for Real Photograph Post Cards On January 6, 2004, Hal Ottaway entranced members with his talk and postcards of John V. Dedrick. He has collected these cards for over 20 years. The first thing we learned was that the last name is pronounced "Dead-Dreck". Hal wrote an interesting article for our February issue - printed in part below. Hal worked with member Dennis McBurney to put together a wonderful checklist for these real photo postcards and we are so excited to offer it to you. The first printing is available by sending $14.00 postpaid payable to Wichita Postcard Club to Hal Ottaway. There will also be lists available at the show in October. The first page contains a bio of John Virgil Dedrick who was born in Leon, Kansas. This list is threefold as it provides a compact text list as well as picture list and a full text list. Dennis has done a wonderful job of organizing the information in an easy to use format. Below is shown the cover copy printed on heavy-duty paper as well as examples of the photo pages and the compact text list (both printed on magazine type paper). The pictures are approximately 2 3/4 by 1 3/4 which allows you to see the detailing in these great photographs. He would also appreciate help with filling in the few numbers that he was unable to obtain. If you have one of the cards listed below or would like to ask a question about the list, please contact Hal at hottaway@cox.net . Dennis thanks Don Nichols, Mitchell Oliphant and Hal Ottaway for providing the majority of the cards used for the illustrations. #11 #18 #38 #62 #66 #117 #119 #122
Cover The cover is printed on heavy off white paper.
Compact List
Photo Pages
About John V. Dedrick John Virgil Dedrick was born in Leon, Kansas, March 8, 1873. In learning how to take pictures he received no help from other photograhers, for they felt what they knew was a trade secret, and so he read and taught himself. Around the time of Oklahoma Statehood (1907) Dedrick and his brothers (Charlie and Frank) went to the Fort Sill area and began taking pictures of Indians, and other points of local interest such as sod houses, dugout houses, and the way of life at that time. They lived in Taloga, Oklahoma, for several years. Here is where this numbered series of Indians and Oklahoma postcards originated. The series now numbers from one to one hundred twenty-three. We still don't know all of the titles, but the search continues.
JVD married in 1909, and the following year they moved and settled in Weimar, Texas. They had a studio and a darkroom there and the son remembers a big skylight that leaked when it rained. Dedrick would drive around the countryside taking and selling pictures. He would go off for weeks at a time and send negatives back to Weimar, where the wife and children would develop the pictures and send the prints back to him. They moved to Tacoma, Washington, sometime in the 1930's, and worked out of the City of Tacoma's city darkroom. During World War II, JVD worked for other photographers taking pictures of soldiers and airmen at Fort Lewis, McChord Field, and other military installations. JVD died at 87 on March 29, 1960, and his wife (Pattie Melissa Dedrick) died on July 31, 1968. They are buried at Mt. View Cemetery in Tacoma.
The details in his photos are amazing. Check out the little boy's face.

Updated 3-22-06