Alfred S. Landis: The Postcard Artist

March 01, 2025 • Leave a Comment

Introduction

Alfred S. Landis was one of the most unique and prolific artists in Catskills history. He published nearly 800 artistic postcards that depicted the hotels, resorts, boarding houses and scenery from throughout the four counties of the Catskill region. His beautiful and colorful postcards remain highly sought after collectibles to this day.

Columbia Hotel, South Fallsburg, N. Y.

Background

Alfred S. Landis was born in Pennsylvania in September 1872. The 1900 United States census recorded 27-year-old Landis as living in Manhattan, New York with an occupation of lithographer. The 1905 New York state census recorded Landis is living in Bronx, New York, with an occupation of photographer. In 1910, Landis was living at Montclair, New Jersey; in 1920 and 1930, at West Orange Township, New Jersey; and in 1940, at Bayville, New Jersey; all with an occupation of lithographer. The 1950 United States census recorded Landis as living in Wurtsboro, New York with an occupation of “postcard artist.”

According to Joan Dunn in the Postcards Published by Alfred S. Landis, the earliest postmark date found on a Landis postcard was in August 1919. The postcard was published by the firm of Landis & Alsop, located at 294 Roseville Avenue in Newark, New Jersey. The partnership of Landis & Alsop ended around the late 1920s near the end of the “white border” era of postcards (1915-1930).

There has been a bit of mystery as to the identity of Alsop in the partnership of Landis and Alsop. As mentioned above, the first Landis and Alsop postcard was published around 1919. However, the partnership had created several popular and well-regarded birds-eye view city maps nearly twenty years prior. Examples include New Rochelle (1899), Morristown (1899), Atlantic City (1900), Easton, PA and Phillipsburg, NJ (1900), Binghamton (1901), Allentown (1900), Elmira (1901) and Buffalo (1901). Most of these maps can be viewed online at the Library of Congress website.

All of the maps were published by Landis & Alsop, located at 294 Roseville Avenue in Newark, New Jersey, which matches the address listed for the firm on some of its earliest postcards. In addition, the Atlantic City map contained an advertising reference for a musical song sheet titled “I’ll Love but Thee” with words and music by Charles F. Alsop. The song sheet was published by the Alsop Publishing Company at 294 Roseville Avenue in Newark.

Charles F. Alsop was recorded on his 1896 marriage license with an occupation of “artist,” in the 1910 national census with an occupation of “writer, show card” and in the 1920 census with an occupation of “commercial artist.” He authored several songs, including “Alice, My Darling, My Own” in 1896 and “In Manila Bay” in 1898. “In Manila Bay” was written exclusively for publication in the Philadelphia Press. The piece was written for George Dewey, who was known as the Hero of Manila and was promoted to Admiral of the Navy for winning the battle of Manila Bay with only one American casualty.

After the end of the Landis and Alsop partnership in the late 1920s, Landis then operated independently. A. S. Landis lived in the village of Wurtsboro, New York for approximately 13 years from 1942 to 1955. During these years, the hotel, resort and boarding house industry of the Catskills was at its peak. Hundreds of establishments could be found throughout the countryside and mountains. Landis postcards depicted a wide range of subjects including hotels, motels, resorts, boarding houses, pools, lakes, landscapes, waterfalls and rural scenes.

Upon agreement with a business owner, Landis would visit their establishment to sketch the buildings, landscape, roads and resort activities. With this sketch, Landis would return to his studio at Wurtsboro, where he would paint a picture as if he were looking down on the business from the air. When complete, the original painting would be presented to the owner of the establishment, while postcards of the painting were manufactured to be given to guests and used as marketing.

Jim Landis, grandson of Alfred Landis, described the artistic process of his grandfather. “In order to get his unusual and interesting perspective he would venture to hillsides and rooftops and even carried a ladder with him for an extra few feet. These different perspectives and an excellent imagination were the perfect combination to produce the “Bird’s-Eye View” that is his trademark.

[He would paint] directly onto a canvas held by an easel while he was at the site of the subject . . . Alfred would take countless photos from all sorts of angles and positions to get the full perspective for his art work. The photos were then pieced together like a puzzle to form the basis for the painting.

Needless to say, most of the paintings were not scaled. It would have been impossible to get the entire subject into a painting if the scale was accurate. Ball fields, playgrounds, casinos, additional rooms, buildings in progress and even buildings not yet built were “squeezed in” so that the potential guest would be able to see all the resort had to offer. Beach access, water access and what is offered all in one neat postcard. The resort owners loved this.

Usually, the original painting was displayed in the hotel. That was part of the package that Alfred sold. Alfred sold the framed painting along with the postcards to the owners. The owners would proudly display the painting and that led to selling more postcards.” (Landis, Jim. “The Magic of Alfred Landis.” Postcards Published by Alfred S. Landis. Wurtsboro, NY: Half Moon Postcard Club, 2007.)

The resulting postcards were unique in their style, and were unlike any other postcards that had been previously produced for the Catskills market. Most of the postcards utilized a healthy use of color in making Landis’ signature “birds-eye view” come to life. They made each hotel, motel, resort and boarding house a fun, inviting place to spend your vacation.

Landis was married to Florence Day Landis. He was a dedicated member of the Dutch Reformed Church of Mamakating for many years. After his time in Wurtsboro, Landis retired to Daytona Beach, Florida, where he continued to paint and published a small number of postcards. Landis lived at Daytona Beach from 1956 until his passing in August 1960. Both Alfred and Florence are buried at Rosedale Cemetery in Orange, New Jersey.

Postcards

The Half Moon Postcard Club of Wurtsboro, New York published a first edition reference guide in 1994 that detailed all the known postcards published by Landis. The guide, titled Postcards Published by Alfred S. Landis – “Birds-Eye View Artist", was updated as a second edition in 2007.

The updated 2007 guide lists 1,056 postcards published by Landis, which includes 838 from the state of New York, 171 from New Jersey, 8 from Pennsylvania, 6 from Florida, 2 from Connecticut and 1 from Virginia.

Of the 838 postcards from New York, 790 were from the four counties of the Catskills, including 535 from Sullivan County, 160 from Ulster County, 69 from Greene County and 26 from Delaware County.

In Delaware County, locations of the Landis postcards include Arkville (3), Fleischmanns (20), Grand Gorge (1), Margaretville (1) and Stamford (1).

In Greene County, locations include Acra (2), Cairo (3), Catskill (3), East Durham (3), East Windham (2), Greenville (5), Haines Falls (5), Hensonville (2), Hunter (5), Leeds (2), Lexington (1), Maplecrest (1), Palenville (9), South Cairo (1), Tannersville (6), Windham (18). There is also one card listed for Stamford that should be in the Delaware County section.

In Ulster County, locations include Accord (9), Allaben (1), Big Indian (3), Ellenville (82), Greenfield Park (36), Hurley (1), Kerhonkson (6), Lake Katrine (1), Mount Tremper (1), Napanoch (2), New Paltz (1), Phoenicia (2), Pine Hill (2), Saugerties (2), Spring Glen (3), Ulster Heights (1), Ulster Park (1) and Wawarsing (6).

In Sullivan County, locations include Bushville (3), Dairyland (1), Fallsburg (16), Ferndale (47), Fosterdale (8), Glen Wild (4), Greenfield (2), Hurleyville (20), Jeffersonville (1), Kauneonga Lake (8), Kenoza Lake (4), Kiamesha Lake (26), Lake Huntington (5), Liberty (6), Livingston Manor (36), Loch Sheldrake (57), Monticello (49), Mountaindale (25), Narrowsburg (1), North Branch (1), Parksville (46), Rock Hill (4), Roscoe (3), South Fallsburg (63), Summitville (3), Swan Lake (31), Westbrookville (4), White Lake (6), White Sulpher Springs (7), Woodbourne (17), Woodridge (24), Wurtsboro (4) and Youngsville (3).

As seen from the above, the most popular location for Landis to work was Ellenville, with 82 postcards. Other popular locations included South Fallsburg, with 63 postcards; Loch Sheldrake, with 57 postcards; Monticello, with 49 postcards; Ferndale with 47 postcards; Parksville, with 46 postcards; Livingston Manor with 36 postcards; and Greenfield Park, with 36 postcards.

Since the publication of the 2007 guide with 1,056 Landis postcards, technology has improved significantly, leading to the discovery of additional Landis postcards which are readily found on the internet and on various auction and postcard websites. My personal collection includes a number of Landis postcards that are not included in the guide. If the guide were to be updated, it would be interesting to see how many more Landis postcards were published.

Landis published his postcards from several different locations during his long career including

Landis and Alsop, 294 Roseville Avenue, Newark, New Jersey
Landis and Alsop, 332 Park Avenue, Newark, New Jersey
A. S. Landis, Beachwood, New Jersey
A. S. Landis, Bayville, New Jersey
A. S. Landis, Wurtsboro, New York
A. S. Landis, Wurtsboro, New York and Daytona Beach, Florida
A. S. Landis, Route 1, Box 25, Daytona Beach, Florida

These addresses are listed in chronological order to assist with the dating of postcards.

Gallery

I have only recently started to collect postcards published by Alfred S. Landis. I had previously focused my collecting mostly on Catskills photography, but there was something different, something unique about the Landis postcards that I decided to begin collecting them as well.

I have now acquired over 90 Landis postcards, which are all available for viewing from the “Alfred S. Landis” link on the “Gallery” page. I am focused mostly on collecting the Landis postcards from the four counties of the Catskills region, but am expanding my collection as postcards from the other states become available. A few of the Landis Catskills postcards are featured here.

Grand View Hotel, Hurleyville, Sull. Co., N. Y.