Rotalfoto

Rotalfoto (or RotalFoto) was an Italian postcard publisher, located in Milano (Milan). From the 1950s till the 1970s, the firm created countless postcards with the logo of a globe. The subjects were often topographic, but Rotalfoto also created a wonderful series of film star postcards. Originally these postcards were in black and white, but later also in colour (Rotalcolor), such as the Artisti di Sempre (Artists forever) series. The format of the cards is normally 14.5 x 10 cm (5.7 x 3.9 inch) but the Artisti di Sempre series is even larger, 17 x 12 cm (6.7 x 4.7 inch). Ivo and I both selected each our favourite Rotalfoto cards for this post.

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Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano / G.B. & F., V, no. 2072. Photo: Carlo Ponti. Elsa Martinelliin La risaia/Rice Girl (Raffaello Matarazzo, 1956). Caption: Saluti dalla Risaia (Greetings from the rice girl).

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Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano (Milan), no. 113. Photo: Ponti-De Laurentiis. Amedeo Nazzari in Il brigante Musolino/Outlaw Girl (Mario Camerini, 1950), a Ponti-De Laurentiis production, costarring De Laurentiis' wife Silvana Mangano.

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Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 243. Photo: Lux Film. Alida Valli in Les amants de Tolède/The Lovers of Toledo (Henri Decoin, Fernando Palacios, 1953).

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Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 295. Lucia Bosé.

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Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 328. Photo: Ponti-De Laurentiis. Sophia Loren in La donna del fiume/Woman of the River (Mario Soldati, 1954).

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Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 500. Ava Gardner.

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Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano. Photo: Ponti - De Laurentiis. Anna Maria Ferrero and Maurizio Arena in Totò e Carolina/Totò and Carolina (Mario Monicelli, 1955).

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Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 519. Photo: Richard Miller / Warner Bros. James Dean at the set of Giant (George Stevens, 1956).

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Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 536. Photo: Rank. Diana Dors.

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Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 612. Mamie Van Doren.

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Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 663. Marisa Allasio.

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Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 705. Ugo Tognazzi.

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Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 863. Dirk Bogarde.

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Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 880. Eleonora Rossi Drago.

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Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 907. Giulietta Masina.

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Italian postcard by Rotalcolor, no. N. 30. Montgomery Clift.

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Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. N. 68. Robert Mitchum.

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Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. N 159. Carol Lynley.

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Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 278. Peter O'Toole in Lord Jim (Richard Brooks, 1965).

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Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 284. Peter Sellers.

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Italian postcard by Ed. Ris. Rotalfoto S.p.A., Milano (Milan), in the series Artisti di Sempre, no. 118. Thomas Milian.

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Italian postcard by Ed. Ris. Rotalfoto S.p.A., Milano (Milan), in the series Artisti di Sempre, no. 287. Robert Wagner.

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Italian postcard by Ed. Ris. Rotalfoto S.p.A., Milano (Milan), in the series Artisti di Sempre, no. 295. Joan Collins.

Sources: British Museum and TuttoCollezzioni (Italian).