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A 3.5x5.5" vintage RPPC photo postcard (NOT a modern reprint) from the estate of a vintage postcard collector. This was part of a huge collection of antique postcards.
* We always automatically combine orders for shipping, so add as many postcards as you’d like to your order!
Photo Overview
A striking real photo postcard showing the grave marker of John Heath at Boothill Graveyard in Tombstone, Arizona. The weathered wooden headboard reads: "JOHN HEATH / TAKEN FROM / County Jail & / LYNCHED / By Bisbee Mob / IN TOMBSTONE / Feb. 22 1884." Desert scrub and rocky terrain surround the marker, with other grave markers faintly visible in the background. The caption along the bottom edge identifies the location as "Boothill Graveyard - Tombstone, Ariz." This is a compelling piece of Old West history documenting one of Arizona Territory\'s most notorious frontier justice incidents.
The postcard catalog number 6-Y-76 appears in the lower right of the image, suggesting this was part of a commercial souvenir series produced for Tombstone\'s growing tourist trade.
Historical Notes
John Heath was a saloon owner in Bisbee, Arizona, who was implicated in the deadly Bisbee Massacre of December 8, 1883 - a robbery gone wrong in which five innocent bystanders were killed. Heath was accused of being the mastermind who planned the robbery and directed the outlaw gang to Bisbee. He was tried separately from the other gang members and received a lighter sentence of life imprisonment rather than death, which outraged the public.
On February 22, 1884, a mob of approximately 200 Bisbee citizens stormed the Tombstone jail, seized Heath, and hanged him from a telegraph pole on Toughnut Street. The other Bisbee Massacre participants - Daniel Dowd, Omar Sample, James Howard, Tex Howard, and Daniel Kelly - were legally hanged on March 28, 1884. Heath\'s lynching became one of the most well-documented frontier justice events of the Arizona Territory era, and his grave at Boothill remains one of the most visited and photographed markers at the cemetery. Tombstone itself was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962 and continues to draw hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.
Browse our complete RPPC Photo Postcard photograph collection.
Text Present
Front of postcard, on grave marker:
"JOHN HEATH
TAKEN FROM
County Jail &
LYNCHED
By Bisbee Mob
IN TOMBSTONE
Feb. 22 1884"
Front of postcard, lower right corner: 6-Y-76
Front of postcard, bottom caption: Boothill Graveyard - Tombstone, Ariz.
Back of postcard:
"PHOTO POST CARD"
Kodak Paper (stamp box in upper right corner)
"ADDRESS"
Print analysis
This is a Real Photo Postcard (RPPC) printed on Kodak Photo Post Card paper, as indicated by the "Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse. The Kodak paper stock and postcard back style is consistent with production from the 1950s-1960s. The catalog number 6-Y-76 suggests it was part of a commercial souvenir series. This is best classified as a Type 2 photo postcard - printed from original negatives well after the subject matter (1884), but the postcard itself dates to approximately the 1950s-1960s.
Condition
All postcards we sell are in fair to excellent vintage condition. Please see photos for any tears, folds, smudges, or other age damage that may be present.
