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Lenticular "Winking Girl" Postcard (IMCO Stereo Card), with Spanish manuscript message
Postcard
A lenticular ("3-D"/animated) novelty postcard with a studio portrait of a smiling young woman, her hair in a high bouffant updo, wearing a green-and-yellow floral off-the-shoulder dress and a large turquoise drop earring, posed with her hand near her chin against a soft green-and-blue painterly background. The vertically ribbed lenticular lens animates the image so that, when tilted, the woman appears to wink — the "winking girl" being one of the most popular commercial lenticular postcard motifs of the late 1960s–1970s. The flat photograph shows the characteristic lens ridging and slight rainbow sheen. The reverse is a printed lenticular-card blank used as a postcard, filled with a handwritten message in green ink. Printed marks: "BRIEFPORTO" (German for "postage") in the upper-right stamp box, and "IMCO STEREO CARD" stamped at the lower center — identifying the lens-card manufacturer (IMCO, a German/Western European maker of stereo/lenticular cards). The manuscript message, in Spanish, opens with a greeting addressing several people (tentatively "...Andrés, María y Claudio...") and reads in part: "Aquí va esta postal; si la mueven, verán cómo guiña un ojo..." ("Here is this postcard; if you move it, you'll see how she winks an eye..."), continuing with further remarks (partly illegible, including a line ending "...Se tiene que hacer un buen despojo[?]"), then "Saludos a todos por esa[r]. Un abrazo de," dated "6-2-70" at lower left and signed (tentatively) "Ramón" at lower right. The card is unposted (no stamp or postmark) and is heavily age-toned and stained.
2025.11.37
Winking Girl
This is a Western-manufactured commercial lenticular novelty postcard — the popular "winking girl" type produced by European makers from the mid-1960s. The sender's delight in the winking effect ("si la mueven, verán cómo guiña un ojo") captures the playful appeal of the lenticular medium.
2025.11
Purchase
Briefporto
Maker/Attribution: Lenticular card blank manufactured by IMCO ("IMCO Stereo Card"), a German/Western European maker; the portrait is a commercial stock "winking girl" image (photographer/model unidentified). Manuscript message by a sender signing "Ramón" (tentative reading). Date: Message dated "6-2-70" — most likely 6 February 1970 (day-month-year convention); the card stock is mid-to-late 1960s commercial production. Place: Card manufactured in Western Europe (Germany, per "Briefporto"/IMCO); message written and used in Cuba (tentative). Edition: Commercial novelty card; not a numbered edition.
Printed (reverse): "BRIEFPORTO" (stamp box); "IMCO STEREO CARD." Manuscript (reverse, green ink, Spanish): greeting to several named people (tentatively "Andrés, María y Claudio"); body beginning "Aquí va esta postal; si la mueven, verán cómo guiña un ojo. ¿Qué tal la vieja de la neumonitis? Se tienen que hacer un buen despojo"; closing "Saludos a todos por esa. Un abrazo de,"; date "6-2-70"; signature "Ramón" (tentative). No stamp or postmark (card was likely enclosed or hand-delivered rather than mailed openly).
Single lenticular postcard (one leaf).
Fair
IMCO
The "winking girl" is a documented and very common commercial lenticular postcard motif from around 1966 onward; this example's "IMCO Stereo Card" / "Briefporto" marks point to German/Western European manufacture. Japanese producers (notably Toppan) led the 1960s–70s 3-D postcard trade, including glamour/"winking lady" pin-ups, and exported cards on local-language stock (here a German "BRIEFPORTO" box), which accounts for the mixed evidence.
Contrasts with the Soviet VBPK lenticular cards (different origin, Western/Japanese commercial stock, earlier 1970 date, glamour rather than cartoon subject). The "IMCO" brand history is not established in available sources.