Zan Stark
| Zan Stark | |
|---|---|
| Born | Alexander Johnson Stark April 10, 1889 Ishpeming, Michigan |
| 💀Died | March 17, 1967 (aged 77) Sonoma, California, USMarch 17, 1967 (aged 77) |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| 👩 Spouse(s) |
|
| 👶 Children | 2 Military career |
| Allegiance |  United States of America |
| Service/ |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1918-1919 |
| Rank | Sergeant |
| Unit | 91st Division |
| Commands held | 348th Machine Gun Battalion |
Alexander J. Stark (April 10, 1889 – March 17, 1967) also known as Zan Stark, was an American commercial photographer. He is best known as a pioneer publisher of real photo postcards. He published under the name Zan of Tamalpais. Stark printed postcards in Mill Valley, California for 30 years.
Early life
Stark was born on April 10, 1889, in Michigan,[1] and brought up in Cincinnati, before moving out west in 1912.[2] On January 24, 1925, Stark married Vivian Getty in San Francisco,[3] and had one son.[2] Stark and Vivian divorced after ten years of marriage. He remarried to Katherine Franklin Greenman of Sausalito in 1936 in Marin County, California.[4]
Career
In 1914, Stark moved from Michigan to San Francisco and invested in a small theater lantern business under the name "Xan Stark, Alta Studios." In the early 1920s, Stark released several editions of Alta Art Studies, a series featuring photographic prints of female nudes.[5] Two of the Alta S.F. models, Olive Ann Alcorn and Laura La Plante, went on to pursue careers in film.[6]
During World War I, Stark was drafted into the US Army in 1918, serving in the 91st Division and rising to the rank of sergeant in the 348th Machine Gun Battalion.[2][7]
Following the war, Stark returned to California in 1921 and partnered with his brother to establish the Stark Bros. Alta Slide & Photo Co. in San Francisco.[8] Following his brother’s death, and due to the economic impact of the Great Depression, he closed his shop in San Francisco. In 1932, Stark moved to Mill Valley, California, where he established a studio and began offering photo finishing and other photographic services. He sought to capture photographs suitable for postcards, marketing them locally. Stark expanded his photography to encompass Marin County, then across the bay, and eventually to distant locations. As the area and sales volume expanded, his scenic photographic postcards became known under the name Zan of Tamalpais.[2][1][5]
In the 1930s, Stark formed a partnership with Lloyd Perkins. Together, they produced thousands of real photo postcards capturing much of California, with Perkins overseeing sales and Stark handling the photography. On the back of the photo postcard, the type of photographic paper used for development, such as Kodak, was indicated.[9][10]
Between 1932 and 1952, Stark traveled and photographed the California coast, capturing scenes from Monterey County, Big Sur, along the Redwood Highway, and throughout Northern California up to Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, resulting in the creation of thousands of postcards. From 1936, Stark was the official photographer of the Redwood Empire Association.[5]
In 1948, the business had sold 5,000,000 postcards.[11] Stark's earliest postcards were inscribed with "zS" numbers and captions. Later, he adopted "Zan" along with the number sequence.[12][9]
At his Mill Valley facility, he had the capacity to produce 10,000 black and white prints per day with the help of an automatic printer. The transition from black and white to color postcards took place in the late 1940s. One of his largest orders came at the end of World War II, when Southern Pacific Company commissioned half a million cards.[2]
In 1948, Stark became involved in Mill Valley city politics as secretary of Locust Merchants Association and was successful as a lobbyist for district improvements.[2] He won a seat on the city council in April 1950 for a four year term.[13] In October 1952, Stark resigned as city councilman and moved to Boyes Hot Springs in Sonoma County to join his son in publishing the now defunct Valley of the Moon Review, a daily newspaper.[14][5][9]
Death and legacy
Stark died on March 17, 1967, at a rest home in Sonoma, California.[14]
Gallery
-
Zan S-26 - Snow Capped the Year Round, Mt. Shasta -
Zan 197 - Sicily of the West Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco -
Zan 765 - San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge -
Zan 970 - Ferry Bldg, at Night, San Francisco -
Zan 1452 - Giant Redwood Lanes Redwood Flat California -
Olive Ann Alcorn by Xan Stark for Alta Studio San Francisco (1920)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Alexander J. "Zan" Stark, Postcard photographer". California Views: The Pat Hathaway Photo Collection. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Jack Eisen (November 24, 1951). "Deperession-Born Postcard Business Now Successful Mill Valley Business". San Rafael Daily Independent Journal. pp. 8–9. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
- ↑ "Licenses To Wed Issued". Redwood City Tribune. Redwood City, California. January 24, 1925. p. 4. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
- ↑ "San Rafael". Santa Rosa Republican. Santa Rosa, California. February 11, 1936. p. 9. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Stark (Zan) collection". Online Archive of California. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
- ↑ "The International Studio; an Illustrated Magazine of Fine and Applied Art". Offices of the International Studio. California. 1922. p. xv. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
- ↑ "S. F. Veterans Form New Organization". The San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California. September 11, 1927. p. 6. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
- ↑ "Catalog of Copyright Entries". Library of Congress, Copyright Office. 1922. p. 4249. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Bogdan, Robert; Weseloh, Todd (September 21, 2006). Real Photo Postcard Guide. Syracuse University Press. p. 253. ISBN 9780815608516. Retrieved 2024-04-23. Search this book on
- ↑ "Marin County – Alexander 'Zan' Stark Collection, c.1933-1955". Marin County Free Library. Retrieved 2024-05-18.
- ↑ Nelson Valjean (November 21, 1948). "Nickel Art Gallery". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. p. 143. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
- ↑ "View of a road leading to Mt. Tamalpais and Muir Woods". Anne T. Kent California Room Marin County Free Library. Marine County, California. 1938. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
- ↑ "Zan Stark To Leave M. V. For Sonoma". Daily Independent Journal. San Rafael, California. August 14, 1952. p. 4. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Zan Stark Rites Held". Daily Independent Journal. San Rafael, California. March 22, 1967. p. 4. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
External links
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