Postcards: America’s History in Pictures
*The event has already taken place on this date: Wed, 11/15/2023
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Postcards: America’s History in Pictures
Today, postcards are not as common as they once were, but not so long ago they were everywhere. When you walked into a drugstore, five and dime, department store, grocery store, hardware store or restaurant, you would be greeted with racks of postcards. Robert Frank, a major 20th century photographer, commented that he had never seen so many pictures of atomic bombs going off as he did in the postcard racks around Las Vegas in the early 1950’s.
Postcards have documented our lives and tastes for over 135 years, from the violent and ugly to the beautiful and tranquil. Until Google came along and photographed everything, postcards were our most complete visual record, and in many cases our only record. They are windows into history.
Richard Shaeffer will speak about several aspects of postcard collecting (called Deltiology) and three specific types of postcards--real photo post cards, linens, and chromes. Schaeffer will explain Eastman Kodak’s involvement in the development of two of the card types, real photo post cards and chromes. Schaeffer will discuss three major card collections that have been or will be donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and the Newberry Library in Chicago.
Richard Schaeffer has been a postcard collector since 1963 and is an active member of the Western New York Postcard Club.
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