We present this article today with great deal of pride. It is the first article to appear in the second year of our publication. It is also a pleasure that we were able to have Mr. Shav LaVinge from the San Jose Postcard Club partner with us in its publication. Thank you, Shav. And, I’m sure I speak for Shav and all of us at Postcard History when I say Thank you to our readers who have been so loyal in the past year.
Is it some sort of munitions testing facility? Why build it in downtown Baltimore? There’s a reason for everything, and then I found out there were lots of them, and some are still around, almost 200 years and several technological revolutions later.
Postcard History is a free online magazine dedicated to vintage and historic picture postcards and the many stories associated with them.
We feature richly illustrated articles designed to both inform and entertain postcard collectors and history buffs.
We also provide the most comprehensive listing of forthcoming shows around.
And there’s a rich trove of links to institutional and personal online postcard collections. There’s also a comprehensive, verified listing of active postcard clubs in the U. S. and Canada, which we’re working on expanding worldwide.
We admire museum that not only keep the postcards they have (and remember, lots of museums and libraries have dumped, or merely sold, their collections, citing space needs) but also do something with them. The Castle Museum of Saginaw County History (Michigan) has lots of (what else?) Saginaw cards, but they’ve looked at them. And prepared a quiz to test your observational skills when you compare two cards of the same object. Is the image really night, or day? What’s the real color of the roof of the Hoyt Library? It’ll sharpen your observational skills.
The post-World War II Okinawa that many veterans remember is long gone — the occupation ended in 1972. But many have fond memories of what they called “Rock.” Remembering Okinawa History is a website of postcards as well as photos, videos, slides, and more. The postcards (many in color) are divided into eras. Site owner Donn Cuson says “we have compiled an enormous among of photos from the early post war time,” and you can believe him.
There’s this BBC4’s Timeshift episode, a very candid interview by Nigel Walmsley of Michael Winner, who tells the story of how he collected the risqué postcards of Donald McGill. Click on the pink box at the bottom left of the postcard and you’ll see (and hear) what we mean. As the text from Timeshift’s website says, “some consider postcards an art form, others are fascinated by the messages on the back, poignantly stranded in time.” We’re with Winner’s more earthy description.
The only South-Side-of-Chicago person we ever knew (well, only from the Jim Croce song “Bad Bad Leroy Brown”) was, well, Leroy Brown. Turns out there’s another one, John Chuckman, who calls himself a “former south side boy,” and he seems more our speed, since he collects postcards and all sorts of other things. On his voluminous blog he features his postcards from all over Chicago. You can scroll down the entire page (a job unto itself) or you can click the links in the right in the right-hand column to see just how voluminous the collection is.
Postcard History is now a year old! We’re glad you, our readers, like what’s happened so far. As we pause in our headlong dash into Year 2, we know you want more articles, and we’re prepared to give you then starting on Thursday. Meanwhile, please browse our first 184 articles. You’ll find something you may have missed or you can re-read past favorites.
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