The Maltese postcard maker history forgot

The beginning of the 20th century witnessed an intense flowering of postcard publishers, some well documented, while others wither on the fringes of anonymity.

Names like Modiano, Ellis, Bornaccini, Stengel, Cassar, Farrugia and many others have been researched and their output, life, or both, today find themselves rather clearly profiled.

A spinner. Attributed to Antonio Micallef.

Milkman. Attributed to Antonio Micallef.

But too many black holes persist.

A fashionable Maltese lady in 'faldetta'

I will today home in on one – Antonio Micallef, about whom almost nothing is known. 

His output, though not enormous, reaches consistently high standards and generally avoids clichés. 

Micallef seemed proud to project the island’s simpler face

The backs of his cards say that he ran his business from nos 67, 68 and 81, Scesa Marina, Valletta, today known as it-Telgħa ta’ Liesse, or Marina Street.

I snooped around, asking questions. Some believed him an ancestor of is-Sur Tonin Micallef, the owner of the legendary Lux Press and publisher of the only Maltese evening daily, the Bulletin, last issued in January 1984 after a run of many years.

A view of Marina Hill and Victoria Gate.

Another view of Marina Street, where Antonio Micallef had his business premises.

I remember is-Sur Tonin with particular affection, a gruff and gold-hearted patriarch with a smoker’s voice who ruled his large printing press in Fleur-de-Lys and where I learnt the essentials of typography. 

But was our enigmatic Antonio Micallef really his ancestor? No one was sure. Micallef’s postcard activity peaked in 1908 and 1909, after which he seems to have disappeared from the publishing scene.

Ħamrun cattle market. Attributed to Antonio Micallef. Note the typos in the caption.

His cards were printed abroad in sets, possibly in Germany or Austria (the captions have many printing typos: ‘Ħamrun Cattle Market’ becomes ‘Nambun Cattel Market’). 

Maglio Gardens in Floriana

Valletta landing place in Grand Harbour

An unusual view of the Floriana granaries

I tentatively attribute to Micallef some cards with no identification imprint on their backs, purely on considerations of style. Differently from other postcard publishers, Micallef did not concentrate mostly on ‘monumental’ Malta but seemed proud to project the island’s simpler face.

All postcards from the author’s collection

One of the visits to Malta by Emperor Wilhelm of Germany