Beware of the Rug: If this is Thursday it must be postcards 627

Thursday, October 5, 2023

If this is Thursday it must be postcards 627

“Ocotillo in Bloom”

This unused color postcard features a photograph with the Ocotillo cactus as the main plant but also shows the Giant Saguaro at the right side and at the upper left side, as well as the spiny cholla. The bushy shorter yellow plants are the spiny cholla. The card has K-348-B at the upper left corner on the reverse as well as an information blurb: “Ocotilla in Bloom” the most colorful of desert flora is the graceful Ocotillo. The fire-red blossoms resemble the tassels of the buggy whips, common in grandfather’s day. In the background is the Palo Verde along with the Giant Saguaro. Around the Ocotillo spreads the spiny Cholla.” The card is a product of Petley Studios, Phoenix, Arizona.

The Ocotilla is a semi-succulent desert plant more closely related to the tea plant or blueberries than to cactus. Much of the year it looks like dead, spiny, sticks, but when it blooms it has bright crimson flowers clustered at the tips of each stem. The flowers of the spiny Cholla appear in spring and early summer. The flowers can be rose, red purple, yellow, or white. This plant is native to Arizona and New Mexico in the United States; and Chihuahua and Sonora in Mexico. In Australia it is now considered an invasive species. The Giant Saguaro can grow to 40 feet or 12 meters high. They can live for 150 years and may or may not have “arms.” This cactus is a familiar and common image in Mexican and Arizonan culture and in movies.

Robert (Bob) Teeple Petley (1912-2006) started his postcard business, The Petley Studo, Inc., in 1945. With just 12 or 13 (two number 7) black and white original designs he managed to develop a network of over 3,500 dealers in five states. In 1994 members of the Tucson, AZ Post Card Exchange Club started a checklist of all Petley’s cards and ended up with 160 designs: the original 12 or 13 black and white and 149+ in color. Bob Petley died at age 93 in 2006. His signature or facsimile appears on the reverse of his cards on the upper center line.