New York Vintage Postcard Collection

Postcards are a fantastic visual resource for a placeís past that are often underutilized by scholars. They offer rich evidence of culture and architecture as a visual record of the past.
Postcards provide important information about so many elements of society that no other objects do. They can provide the best set of available images for examples of architecture, types of buildings, historic events, and certain places. Postcards are important for researching social history as well, as they often provide authentic insights into daily activities and appearances of neighborhoods, and show material culture ìin the vernacularî as few other objects can.
As the world relies more and more on visual materials to convey information, researchers must mine available sources in their studies of history. Images for years were ìomitted from academic journals as mere expensive and frivolous adjuncts to textî and are now included as meaningful evidence.
Postcards are of real significance for studies of various aspects of modern society. They may be used, for example, to study the consequences of public welfare activities -- what happened to private economic organizations under Government regulation or the rural and urban patterns that are developing in the country, social trends, and the like.
Postcards offer interpretations of what features of a city or town are distinctive or valuable by noting benchmarks of civic achievement such as train stations, public buildings, parks, libraries, theaters, and ìMainî Streets. Construction of these places in turn reflects local resources and aesthetics. Additionally, they are documents of regional and time specific clothing. Postcards appealed to both visiting tourists and to local residents who frequently sent cards to people who may never visit. Many of the cards have messages on the back may provide additional data to what is pictured on the front.
When you think of New York, you might think of Broadway, Central Park, the Empire State
Building, the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, and Coney Island. But if you look at these vintage postcards, youíll see that New York State has lots of historical views to offer. These postcards document historical buildings, churches, synagogues, the Hudson River and snapshots of the past across Long Island.
For tourists, immigrants, residents and relatives, a souvenir of the sights of the Big City proved irresistible, and postcard publishers responded with an inexhaustible supply of sets picturing New York. The Historical Postcards of the Picture Collection show every stage of the ìgolden ageî of picture postcards.
The collection contains 401 postcards depicting New York City primarily in the first two decades of the twentieth century. Some of the cards are dated later. Both front and back of the cards are viewable. Includes views of bridges, parks, notable buildings, skyline, monuments, schools, neighborhoods, skyscrapers and many others. Primarily photomechanical reproductions of black & white photographs with the addition of hand coloring or lithographic tints. Most postcards are near fine, the others very good.
A substantial collection of postcards visually documenting New York City in the the first two decades of the 20th century.
Content:
-17 Trinity Church
-35 + folder NYC United Nations -46 NYC
-30 NYC
-6 Hotel Woodstock
-5 Hotel Dixon
-3 Grand Central Station
-5 Hotel Astor
-21 St. Patrickís Cathedral
-9 Little Church Around the Corner -23 NYC RPPC
-71 Ed u card and folder of NYC -7 Hotel Biltmore NYC
-88 NYC
-35 NYC Hotels.

Item #1880.

Price: $2,000.00