Tag: postcard

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New Circus Collections in the IDHH

The IDHH has continued to grow, with new collections added each quarterly harvest!

This month we’re featuring two new collections from Illinois State University (ISU), both of which explore circus history in Illinois: the P. T. Barnum Letters and Ephemera collection and the Ward Family Postcards collection. American showman Phineas Taylor “P. T.” Barnum (1810–1891) is probably best known for co-founding the three-ring Barnum & Bailey Circus in the late nineteenth century. The documents in this collection, which includes letters from Barnum himself, relate to Barnum’s circuses, business ventures, and Barnum’s purchase and disposition of Villa Park, approximately 760 acres of land in what is now metropolitan Denver, Colorado. The Ward Family Postcards collection features postcards sent by the Flying Wards, an aerial act that played in circuses and other venues in the early twentieth century, to their family back home as they toured through North America and Europe, offering insight into the developing trapeze act as well as historic postcards of different American cities.

Here are a few of our favorite items from these two new collections:

color back of postcard with hand written letter
Das Völkerschlachtdenkmal as der Vogelschau [back]. August 3, 1913. Published by Louis Glaser. Illinois State University. Ward Family Postcards. Courtesy of Illinois State University.
color front of postcard of Oregon lumber company's factory
Oregon Lumber Co., Baker City, Oregon [front]. circa 1906-1918. Published by W. A. Baird. Illinois State University. Ward Family Postcards. Courtesy of Illinois State University.
Hotel Tilden Hall, Bloomington, Illinois [front]. March 31, 1938. Published by Curt Teich & Co. Illinois State University. Ward Family Postcards. Courtesy of Illinois State University.
color image of handwritten letter
P.T. Barnum letter to George S. Bowen, October 16, 1875 [page 1]. October 16, 1875. Illinois State University. P. T. Barnum Letters and Ephemera. Courtesy of Illinois State University.
color image of handwritten letter
P.T. Barnum letter to Sol Smith, January 21, 1851 [page 1]. January 21, 1851. Illinois State University. P. T. Barnum Letters and Ephemera. Courtesy of Illinois State University.

Want to see more?

Visit the IDHH to view more collections and items from Illinois State University, to view more items from the the P. T. Barnum Letters and Ephemera collection and the Ward Family Postcards collections, or to view more circus-related items and collections, include the rich circus collections from ISU.

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New IDHH Collections of Historic Photographs

The IDHH has continued to grow, with new collections added each quarterly harvest!

Want to learn about the history of Aurora, Illinois, and its surrounding area? In addition to a previous collection, you can explore the new collection from the Aurora Public Library District, which includes over 200 images from photographs and postcards in their Community History Collection, including images of libraries, the downtown area, and historic buildings:

Want to learn more about the history of Marshall, Illinois, and its surrounding area? In addition to two previous collections, you can explore the new collection from the Marshall Public Library, which includes over 350 historic photographs, letters, and maps contributed by library users and digitized by the Illinois Heartland Library System’s Mobile Memory Lab:

Here are a few of our favorite items from these two new collections:

image of Aurora Public Library Main Floor
Aurora Public Library Main Floor circa 1904. circa 1904. Aurora Public Library District. Aurora Historic Photographs. Courtesy of the Aurora Public Library District.
image of Vandalia rail road depot
Vandalia R.R. Depot. Marshall Public Library. Mobile Memory Lab: Marshall Public Library. Courtesy of the Marshall Public Library.
postcard of fox street in aurora Illinois
Fox Street Postcard 1910s. circa 1910. Aurora Public Library District. Aurora Historic Photographs. Courtesy of the Aurora Public Library District.
handwritten letter from P. F. Thornburgh to Daughter
Letter from P. F. May 22, 1864. Thornburgh to Daughter [page 1]. Marshall Public Library. Mobile Memory Lab: Marshall Public Library. Courtesy of the Marshall Public Library.

Want to see more?

Visit the IDHH to view the collections featuring items from the Marshall Public Library and from the Aurora Public Library.

 

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New IDHH Collections from Des Plaines Public Library

With our most recent harvest, the IDHH has added nine new collections! Today we’re highlighting two collections from the Des Plaines Public Library: City of Destiny and Greetings from Des Plaines.

City of Destiny features items that tell the story of Des Plaines’s governmental growth from a nineteenth-century village to a modern city. These items include governmental and public buildings, portraits of elected officials, newspaper clippings, events such as planting trees for Arbor Day, and even sheet music with fifty reasons that “You Will Like Des Plaines!”

Printed title page of the Revised Ordinances of the Village of Des Plaines that were passed on December 7, 1885.
Revised Ordinances of the Village of Des Plaines [page 2]. 1886. Des Plaines Public Library. City of Destiny. Courtesy of the Des Plaines Public Library.
Second page of sheet music for the song You Will Like Des Plaines that includes a list of 50 reason why people like Des Plaines.
You Will Like Des Plaines, Sheet Music [page 2]. 1924. Des Plaines Public Library. City of Destiny. Courtesy of the Des Plaines Public Library.
Greetings from Des Plaines is a collection of postcards, featuring buildings and scenic views in Des Plaines as well as Chicago. Though some postcards are unsent and blank, many are postmarked with stories of the people who sent and received them.

Postcard image of storefronts on historic Main Street in Des Plaines, Illinois.
Main Street W. from Pearson Street. c. 1900. Des Plaines Public Library. Greetings from Des Plaines. Courtesy of the Des Plaines Public Library.

Postcard image of the Des Plaines Public Library in 1916.
Des Plaines Public Library, 1916 [front]. March 31, 1916. Des Plaines Public Library. Greetings from Des Plaines. Courtesy of the Des Plaines Public Library.
Postmarked postcard with handwritten note.
Des Plaines Public Library, 1916 [back]. March 31, 1916. Des Plaines Public Library. Greetings from Des Plaines. Courtesy of the Des Plaines Public Library. The postcard sender hopes to see the recipient soon, to share some “pretty useful” crochet patterns.

Want to see more?

Visit the IDHH to view more postcards from the Greetings from Des Plaines collection, or to browse all items from Des Plaines Public Library.

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Celebrating Spring with the Lenhardt Library of the Chicago Botanic Garden

There is still a nip in the air across Illinois but this week marks the calendar’s first week of Spring. To celebrate Spring and to turn our minds toward warmer weather, the IDHH highlights the Lenhardt Library of the Chicago Botanic Garden’s collection in the Illinois Digital Archive. The collection features more than 100 digitized books, postcards, and photography. These digital items represent a tiny fraction of the Lenhardt Library’s rare book collection, which provides 500 years of research on nearly all things related to botany, horticulture, agriculture, gardening, landscaping, and botanical art.
The first three items below are postcards featuring photomechanical prints of original photographs and paintings of botanical landmarks in Lincoln Park, Jackson Park, and Washington Park. All of these places, the Conservatories in Lincoln Park and Washington Park and the Japanese Garden in Jackson Park are still extant.

The last items are photographs from the 1965 Chicago World Flower and Garden Show. First held in 1847, the tradition continues to this day.

Thanks to our contributor, the Lenhardt Library of the Chicago Botanic Gardens. See all of their items in the IDHH or check out all IDHH items with the subject, “Spring.”

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Summer in Illinois Postcards

Editors Note 03/2021: Postcards-Illinois is no longer a collection in IDHH.

This Spring, the Illinois Digital Heritage Hub celebrated the addition of forty collections from the Illinois Digital Archives to the DPLA. These collections include Postcards-Illinois from the Newberry Library. The collection includes nearly five thousand postcards, many of which feature Illinois’ beautiful State Parks, rivers, and shorelines, and other Summertime destinations, past and present. Postcards-Illinois is just a small subset of the Curt Teich Postcard Archives which comprises around 2.5 million items, probably the largest collection of postcards and related material in the United States. Originally donated by the Lake County Forest Preserve District, a large part of the Newberry’s collection is now searchable through the Digital Public Library of America’s interface which will provide even greater access to and awareness of the material than ever before. The items highlighted here seem particularly relevant for the month of August, including outdoor destinations from around Illinois and serve as encouragement to experience the places that inspired such beautiful imagery.

color postcard featuring picnic grounds among evergreens
Shawnee National Forest, Southern Illinois. 1938. Newberry Library.
color postcard featuring lake and shoreline with houses and people on the beach.
The Glorydale Summer Resort on Kankakee River, Momence, IL. 1929. Newberry Library.
color postcard with painting of people on beach and swimming in lake.
Bathing Beach on Cedar Lake, between Lake Villa and Antioch, Illinois. 1949. Newberry Library.
color postcard of a clear river cutting through a lush forest.
Picturesque Des Plaines River. 1964. Newberry Library.
color postcard of a boat on a lake shore.
Tower Park -Tower Lakes Estates. 1927. Newberry Library.

You can access all of the above images and all other Newberry items in the IDHH.