E. T. W. Dennis and Sons

Dennis is a name synonymous with the picture postcard. The earliest dated picture postcard was posted on the 15 September 1894, following the Post Office deregulation of picture cards on the 1st September, was printed by E. T. W. Dennis and Sons. It is suggested (Ham, p6) that the early photographic cards from around 1901 may have been photographed by Edward Thomas West Dennis (1847-1923) himself. These cards are often identified by the initials E.T.W.D. in small letters on the front and the undivided back of the postcard (see below).

Dennis moved to Scarborough from Stoke Newington in London where he was born in 1870 and established a business with his brother-in-law, T. W. Case. They purchased the business of G. Crosby, this included the library, printing business and the Scarborough Mercury. Edward was married to Emily W. Case (b.1848 in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire). In the 1881 census there are five children listed, Edward W. (b.1872), Frederick W. (b.1873), Ebenezer H. (b.1875), Arthur M. (b.1877) and Herbert (b.1880). The company continued after his death finally going out of business in 2000.

Edward’s brother Frederick Gregory West Dennis (b.1850) was the partner in the postcard publisher Dennis and Holloway.