Collecting Picture Post Cards

In the days before disposable cameras, long before, in fact, in the days that cameras were rare, heavy, expensive contraptions that only a few artists could master, the only visual documentation a tourist had of his trip were sketches and post cards. In a way, they’re still popular today, featuring pictures of your tourist destination that the average visitor rarely has a chance to discover on their own.

It wasn’t too long after post cards became popular, around 1900, that municipalities realized that they were a cheap and effective way of advertising their city or their various attractions. Color cards were then generally printed in Europe, usually in Germany, and were exceptionally well done. Black and white cards were also popular, and cheaper.

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