John Arthur Dixon (18 June 1897 - 19 May 1958) was the British founder of the eponymous manufacturer of greetings cards and postcards, J. Arthur Dixon. Dixon was born at

Cross Hills Cross Hills is a village in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England that is situated halfway between Skipton and Keighley. The village is at the centre of a built-up area that includes the adjoining settlements of Glusburn, Kildwick, ...

Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford city centre, north-west of Bi ...

, Yorkshire, the eldest son of Charles C. Dixon. In 1926, he moved to

Shanklin Shanklin () is a seaside resort and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the Isle of Wight, England, located on Sandown Bay. Shanklin is the southernmost of three settlements which occupy the bay, and is close to Lake, Isle of Wight, Lake ...

on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

, where he bought a small printing business. Dixon was a keen photographer, and in 1937 he produced his first Christmas cards. Initially, he was producing postcards under contract for W. J. Nigh & Sons Ltd,

Ventnor Ventnor () is a seaside resort and civil parish established in the Victorian era on the southeast coast of the Isle of Wight, England, from Newport. It is situated south of St Boniface Down, and built on steep slopes leading down to the sea. ...

, Isle of Wight. From 1937 (evidenced by a postmark on a colour tinted photo card of Shanklin Old Village) he was producing postcards on his own account. In 1951, production began at an 87,000 sq ft factory was built at

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...

, Isle of Wight, leased from the Ministry of Aviation. The factory was a former aircraft hangar at

Parkhurst Forest Parkhurst Forest is a woodland to the north-west of Newport, Isle of Wight, England. The site is partly a site of special scientific interest. It consists of ancient woodland, relict heathland and plantation woodland. The woodland is freehold ...

. In 1951, more than 14 million greetings cards were produced and in 1955, nearly 30 million postcards. In 1958, the company began producing guidebooks. Dixon died on 19 May 1958 at the Royal Isle of Wight County Hospital,

Ryde Ryde is an English seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. The built-up area had a population of 23,999 according to the 2011 Census and an estimate of 24,847 in 2019. Its growth as a seaside resort came af ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dixon, J. Arthur 1897 births 1958 deaths Postcard publishers People from Cross Hills People from Keighley