Identifying Postcards by Hugo Brehme
(Germany 1882 - 1954 Mexico)
German photographer Hugo Brehme, considered one of the outstanding photographers of Mexico, was captivated by that country and her people for over 40 years. He put much of his work on postcards that have distinguishing characteristics that set them apart from others. For example, most of his postcards were numbered and identified by subject matter, and many of them were signed.
A signature line has the negative's number, name of the subject, and oftentimes the name Brehme.
Numbers are usually formed as in German and letters often "trail" beneath the writing line.
The majority of these identifying marks were hand-lettered in the negative. Sometimes the number and location were set in typeface on the front of  cards in sepia tones, and Brehme's name and a copyright warning were printed on the left side of the back, as in the card below:
Full information was sometimes printed on the back of cards, as shown in the examples at left and below.