Postcard History

Alberto Della Valle was an Italian illustrator. A native of Naples, he was born on April 2, 1851.

Della Valle’s fame came when he began illustrating the book covers of the famous Italian author, Emilio Salgari, and the weekly magazine, L’Illustrazione Italiana, that was published from 1873 to 1962.

This modern postcard shows a Salgari book cover.

Alberto Della Valle was also an accomplished photographer. His many pictures are catalogued in the Matania Archive. He also collected pictures from other photographers and pictures from magazines and postcards. There is still an extensive collection of postcards that were mailed to him by his friends from all over the world. The collection is so large that his accommodations through the years can be traced using the postcard addresses. He did change addresses frequently, but mostly stayed in Genoa, Rome, and Naples.

One source of Alberto’s inspiration was staged scenes, often called Tableaux-vivants. He choreographed his own scenes, using himself and family members as actors. Family members included those from both the Della Valle and the Matania families. Photographs were then taken of the elaborate staged scenes that showed many of their props: swords, guns, fancy dresses or costumes, and even a mother-of-pearl gun that he used to commit suicide on December 24, 1928.

As the son of Francesco Della Valle, a colonel in the Army of the Two Sicilies (Regno delle Due Sicilie), also called Bourbon Army (Esercito Borbonico), Alberto was expected to follow a military career. Italy was unified in 1861 and thus, Napoli (Campania) and Sicily were a kingdom.

It was Alberto’s brother-in-law, Eduardo Matania who introduced him to painting. The two families Della Valle and Matania were linked by a double marriage: two Della Valle’s sisters married two Matania brothers. At least seven members of the Matania/Della Valle family were or are artists. Their house contains the archives of the Matania artists and Della Valle, Centro Culturale Matania. Unfortunately, the archives are not digitalized or open to the public.

In all references to Della Valle, his postcard production is barely mentioned. From researching and collecting, we know of various series published on Neapolitan costumes. They are distinguished by the language used for the captions, always placed on the front of the postcard. The series are:

• Caption in Neapolitan dialect with an Italian translation in parenthesis: 22 postcards
• Caption only in Italian: 8 postcards
• Caption in Italian with additional explanation also in Italian: 2 postcards
• Caption in Italian within parenthesis the dialect translation: 2 Postcards
• No caption: 8 postcards

The number of postcards in each series is estimated since there is no catalogue available. The determination was made by Furio Arrasich, an expert in Italian illustrators on postcards, and by using my collection.  There are other postcards attributed by some experts to Della Valle but they are not signed, they will not be discussed here.

All these postcards are signed; typical signatures are shown here for comparison.

Next are some examples of the postcards in the series mentioned.

Those captioned in dialect with the Italian translation in parenthesis. An English translation is provided. Notice the details and the expression of the characters shown.

                            Those captioned only in Italian.

The macheroni at the time were not shaped as a short tube as we know them today, but they were what we now call spaghetti. Macheroni were not invented in Naples, actually their origin is unknown, nevertheless in the early 1900s, the world thought Naples was the capital of macheroni. The dish was cooked and eaten on the street. Neapolitans were skilled in eating it with just three fingers.

The zampognari are usually seen in the cities around Christmas, they are shepherds who play the Zampogna. They are typical in regions like Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Lazio, Molise, Puglia and Sicily. Napoli is in Campania.  The zampogna is an ancient instrument made of animal hide. It is played much like a bagpipe.

Figs are very common in Naples and well liked. In this case, the seller has prepared a basket for a popular celebration held on September 8, Festa di Pietragrotta.

Other cards have no caption and are portraits of women and young boys.

Naples was, at the end of the 1800s and the beginning of the 1900s, a destination for tourists, especially the English who were drawn there for the folklore it represented. There are postcards from Naples that show many aspects of its history. Some other artists who chose similar themes are Coppola, Barone, Mapuano, Brancaccio, and Prosdocimi. However, Della Valle’s cards, in the opinion of many, are the most beautiful.

It is easy to find postcards with posed pictures of children, vendors, and macheroni eaters. Of course, “Vesuvius” was the main character on many postcards from the Campania region, but not for Della Valle. Because Della Valle’s unique technique was so popular, it spread among artists throughout Italy, not just Naples.