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Picture postcards are among the most prevalent types of photos when doing research on the history of a city or institution. In my research on Tullahoma’s history, those cards have certainly been helpful. I’ve also run across at least as many picture postcards of Manchester. One recurring theme on many of those cards has been the name “Cline Photo.”

Being an inquisitive fellow, I started a little research into this Cline Photo concern. A quick DuckDuckGo search led me to Sam Hall’s Chattanooga History website, specifically the section, “W.M. Cline Collection” (https://chattanoogahistory.com/wmclinecompany.php). Mr. Hall has an extensive and impressive collection of historical photos of Chattanooga and I found myself spending way more time on the website than I intended to.

Per Sam Hall, “During the era of pre-interstate travel, photo postcards showcasing beautiful scenery, popular attractions, and local businesses gained popularity. Postcards, especially from the South, likely bear the name Cline.

“The W. M. Cline Company stood out as one of the largest and most successful photo finishing businesses in the South; its roots in the specialties of photographic postcards, pictorial lamp shades and color transparencies.

“Walter Matson Cline, Sr. (1873-1941) was estimated to have taken over 75,000 pictures as he traveled. Cline was born in Ohio and moved to Chattanooga in 1904, where he worked briefly with well-known photographers E. L. Mudge, A. W. Judd and Albin Hajos.

“His son, Walter Matson Cline Jr. (1914-1984), started his career as an apprentice. He quickly expanded the family business, establishing the W. M. Cline Company in Chattanooga in 1938. The company published postcards featuring images taken by both his father and himself.”

The Cline photo postcards sometimes had hand-printed captions and often, but not always, the words “Cline Photo.” Also, they usually had an alpha-numeric code in the lower right corner. Here are some samples of Cline’s Tullahoma cards, a couple of which I’ve shown previously.

Thank you to Mike O’Neal and Sam Hall for contributing cards and information for this article. I urge you to check out Sam’s website mentioned above. It’s a treasure.

Do you have some old Tullahoma photos and accompanying stories to share? You can contact me at alanmayes@lighttube.net.