A comic scene shows two tennis players standing on their heads — a man in a red jacket and a man in white with a red polka-dot cap — with rackets and a net, all inverted against a green ground and a blue field of clouds, so the picture reads as a mirror reflection in water. Visual jokes of this inverted or "reflection" kind were a staple of early twentieth-century comic postcards, which were sold in numbered series by European and American lithographic publishers. No publisher or place is printed on the card.
Postcard Details
Message · English, in pen
My dear Charlotte, -
When you
play tennis be
careful and not
do this to some
poor chap -
Lovingly
Louise W. D
Malden, Mass. 7, 21, '08
Wide cream border with a fine ribbed/laid texture; series number printed vertically at the right edge; light edge wear and a small spot at lower center.
Postmark: [illegible] 1908 (machine cancel with wavy killer over 1¢ Franklin stamp). Divided-back "Postkarte — Carte postale" stock; message dated Malden, Mass. 7/21/'08; light staining/toning and a few creases on the address side.
Cite this card
Upside-down tennis players comic illusion, circa 1910, postcard, c. 1930. PostalPast Collection. https://postalpast.com/postcard/upside-down-tennis-players-comic-illusion-circa-1910. Accessed October 25, 2026.
