In 1898, Congress decided to allow privately printed picture cards to be sent for one penny. These cards often featured a colorized photo on one side and space for the recipient's address on the reverse -- with no room for any sort of personal message. In 1907, the back of postcards (as they came to be known) was split so that a message could be added to the left of the address block...and the popularity of the postcards as souvenirs skyrocketed.
This talk will look at our own extensive collection of New York postcards, examining how these pieces of ephemera not only help us preserve the images of the past, but also allow us to tap into the cultural attitudes of the time. We will be featuring dozens of postcards from 1898 through the 1960s.