L. C. Le Compte Postcard Collection
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Title |
L. C. Le Compte Postcard Collection (1910-1977) |
| Identifier | http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/photo/lecompte/lecompte.html |
| Creator | Lamar Campbell Le Compte |
| Creator | J. L. Widman |
| Creator | Asheville Postcard Company |
| Subject Keyword | L. C. Le Compte ; Asheville Postcard Company ; Great Smoky Mountain National Park ; Asheville, N.C. ; Southern Historical Postcards ; Dixieland ; Grove Park Inn ; Cherokee ; Indians ; Douglas Ellington ; City Building ; Asheville Courthouse ; Biltmore Industries ; railroads ; Battery Park Hotel ; Enka Plant ; Biltmore House ; Craggy Gardens ; Hickory Nut Gap ; Lake Lure ; Mt. Mitchell ; Toxaway ; Looking Glass Falls ; Looking Glass Rock ; Grove Park Inn ; Grove Arcade ; Biltmore Forest Country Club ; |
| Subject LCSH |
LeCompte, Lamar Campbell (d.1977) Asheville Postcard Company Georgia -- History -- Pictorial works Georgia -- Social life and customs -- Pictorial works Postcards -- Georgia Virginia -- History -- Pictorial works Florida -- History -- Pictorial works Florida -- Social life and customs -- Pictorial works Great Smoky Mountain National Park -- History -- Pictorial works North Carolina -- History -- Pictorial works North Carolina -- Social life and customs -- Pictorial works Postcards -- North Carolina South Carolina -- History -- Pictorial works South Carolina -- Social life and customs -- Pictorial works Postcards -- South Carolina West Virginia -- History -- Pictorial works World War II -- History -- Pictorial works |
| Date Original | |
| Date Digital | 2001-05-14 |
| Publisher | D. H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville 28804 |
| Contributor | Mrs. Ruth H. Thurmond ; Southern Highlands Research Center |
| Type | Collection ; Image (postcards), copied newspaper article |
| Format | 2 boxes, VF folder |
| Source | P77.5.1 ; P77.5.2 |
| Language | English |
| Relation | Asheville-Buncombe County Library Asheville Postcard Collection [Collection of Western North Carolina postcards purchased from the Asheville Postcard Collection.] E. M. Ball Collection, D. H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville 28804 (Southern Historical Photographs) |
| Coverage | 1910-1977 ; Southeastern United States |
| Rights |
Any display, publication or public use must credit D. H. Ramsey Library, Special
Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville. Copyright retained by the authors of certain items in the collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law. |
| Donor | Donor Number 24 |
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Description |
The collection contains over 400 color postcards and postcard folders of Western North Carolina and the Southern States created from photographs purchased by L. C. Le Compte and others and produced by the Asheville Postcard Company, owned by Le Compte and others. Reportedly formed in 1910, the Asheville Postcard Company was located between Broadway and Lexington Avenue at 31 Carolina Lane, Asheville, NC. It is not listed as a formal company in the Asheville City Directory until 1921, when it is listed with J. L. Widman as co-owner with Le Compte. The company started with a line of some 190 different postcards produced on linen finish paper stock and surrounded by a white border. Each of the postcards is given an identifying number. Number 1, for example, is a view of Andrews Gyser near Old Fort, NC. Le Compte reportedly sold his cards for the wholesale price of .75 per 100 cards. The inventory of Asheville Postcard Company at its close, was estimated to be several million cards. The focus of this collection is on Western North Carolina, but other scenes of the South are represented. The Asheville Postcard Company under Le Compte was managed in the later years by Ruth Thurmond who donated the UNCA collection of postcards. Following Le Compte, the Asheville Postcard Company was owned in 1978 by Scott K. Trees of Marion, NC. In 1982, Joe Mayes, from Charlotte, was the owner. Currently, the company is known as the Aerial Photography Services, and located formerly at 1145a Tunnel Road, Asheville, NC and now in Charlotte, NC. [Information from Asheville Times, "Campbell Le Compte's Cards Offer Twinge of Nostalgia," (1977-08[?]-10), from Le Compte's obituary in the Asheville Citizen, "L. C Le Compte Dies: Owned Post Card Firm," 1977-06-06 and from the Asheville City Directories, 1914-1982]. |
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Acquisition |
1977-06-00 |
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Citation |
L. C. Le Compte Postcard Collection (1910-1977), D.H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville 28804 |
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Processed by |
Special Collections staff, 1977 and 2001 |
| Biography |
Lamar Campbell Le Compte came to Asheville around 1910. He moved to the area with
his family who sought a healthful environment for his ailing brother. His father was
Charles O. Le Compte, a traveling salesman and his mother was Gertrude (Asheville
Times article, n.d.). Through 1917 the Asheville City Directory lists Le
Compte as employed by Smith's Drug Store. Le Compte does not appear in the
directory again until the appearance of the Asheville Postcard Company in 1921.
Le Compte explained in a newspaper interview in early 1977 that he began his
company by traveling by train throughout the south to sell his stock. When the
company is finally listed with an address in the Asheville City Directory, Le
Compte has a partner, J. L. Widman. Allen Hall also worked by Le Compte as a
salesman beginning in 1922 and continued with Le Compte for some 55 years.
Widman's name disappears as co-owner by 1922 and Le Compte became the sole
owner from that time until his death in 1977. In the later years of the company
Ruth Thurmond was the manager and the company also sold pennants, pillow covers
and a variety of other souvenirs and novelties. Even at the age of
eighty-seven Le Compte continued to go to his office six days a week. He
died in Asheville in 1977 after a brief illness. In 1977 the inventory is
reported to have been several million cards and folders.
The following entries are found in Asheville City Directories: 1914 -- First entry of Le Comptes in Directory [Information from Asheville Times, "Campbell Le Compte's Cards Offer Twinge of Nostalgia," (1977-08[?]-10), from Le Compte's obituary in the Asheville Citizen, "L.C. Le Compte Dies: Owned Post Card Firm," 1977-06-06 and from business information in the Asheville city directories, 1914-1982]. |
| SERIES | |
| 01 | |
| 02 | Great Smoky Mountain National Park |
| 03 |
North Carolina |
| 04 |
Patriotic South Carolina Virginia West Virginia |
| 04 |
Postcard Folders
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