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Alterocca

Terni, Italy, 1877–1970s (Printer, Publisher)

The Terni printing house, Alterocca, was founded in 1877 by Virgilio Alterocca (1853–1910) and is credited with the introduction of the Italian picture postcard in 1897, employing printing methods pioneered in Switzerland and Germany. After his death, the firm's signature changed to Stabilimento Tipografico Alterocca, Terni. In the 1930s, the Alterocca factory had about two hundred employees and produced about fifty million postcards. These cards were sold trough a network of tobacconists, newspapers stands, and stationers. The firm continued in business into the 1970s. In 1995, the Archivio Fotografico Alterocca was established by the Società Alterocca Media S.a.S at via Flaminia Ternana 229, Terni, with over one million images, published and unpublished, that relate to about five thousand locations in Italy and abroad.

Alterocca Credit Line and Logo
Alterocca Credit Line and Logo

Virgilio Alterocca (1853–1910)
Virgilio Alterocca (1853–1910)

 

References

Claudio Cornazzani and Mauro Dalla Casa, Romagna...: ricerca storica: dalle origini della cartolina postale del Regno d'Italia alle cartoline illustrate di Ravenna a partire dal 1890, e dei relativi fotografi, editori, illustratori, pittori, scultori e artisti vari: classificazione e reproduzione di cartoline di Ravenna e della sua provincia (Ravenna: Circolo filatelico e numismatico Dante Aligheri: CAPIT, 2006), 72.