This object was used as a postcard proof by the Edward Mitchell Company (subsequently the Pacific Novelty Co. and then Souvenir Publishing Co.), a major California postcard publisher. The photograph was overpainted, airbrushed, collaged, and reworked into a heightened version of itself so that, when reproduced as a photo-lithographic postcard, it would appear as it did before its numerous embellishments (as its details would be lost in reproduction). While it was created solely as a tool for a commercial pursuit, its strong painterly qualities allow it to be viewed instead as a compelling art object.