By Katie Higley
Happy finals week, Illini! To celebrate the end of the semester, we wanted to share some of the postcards here at the Student Life and Culture Archives. Our postcard collection chronicles majestic views from the United States and beyond from 1895 onward [1].
The history of postcards is extensive and tied to technical innovation, such as the popularization of the printing press, which means they can be traced back to the 17th century [2]! Between 1907 and 1915, the Golden Age of postcards occurred in the United States due to the vast number of postcards sent [3]. Much as they are today, postcards were an inexpensive way to keep up with your friends and family. While we usually think of the “Wish you were here” message on the back of a postcard from some exotic location, sometimes these messages weren’t so cheerful. Take, for instance, this postcard from a student to their parents in 1908, “Write later. Must cram for Physics for this afternoon. Nearly lost out in Math final. I’m awfully sorry because of that bad news [4].”
The Golden Age of postcards ended rather abruptly with the start of World War I. The “white border” era of postcards, named for the white border left around the image, was a way for American printers to save money on ink. These postcards were not as popular with Americans, so the number of postcards sent from 1915 to1930 declined [5]. Despite this, we still see interesting postcards from this time. For instance, this postcard from 1932 features three wide-eyed cats with the pleasant expression, “Every day is a picnic. Wish you were here [6].”
Postcards are unique historical documents. Aside from featuring beautiful images, they give us insight into meaningful moments from the past. For instance, take this postcard from a missionary to Marguerite Pease in 1982. Marguerite Pease was the director of the Illinois Historical Survey (now the Illinois History and Lincoln Collections) from 1958 to 1964 [7]. On the postcard, the missionary describes their experiences in the Philippines: “It is very interesting to visit a campus in another country. We are studying the language one hour a day to understand how a longer-term missionary needs to learn it. It is fun to learn from these girls [8].” Despite being sent over 40 years ago, many students will be able to connect with the experience of studying in another country.
Today, postcards are souvenirs or collectibles instead of being sent to friends or family to keep in touch. As a result of email and social media, postcards have largely declined in popularity [9]. As someone who loves having old National Parks postcards and maps, I enjoyed finding this postcard celebrating the 50th anniversary of the National Parks Service in 1966 [10]. It’s incredible to look at this postcard and reflect on how much the National Parks Service has evolved today.
To conclude this blog, I will share what may be (in my humble opinion) the coolest postcard of the University of Illinois. This postcard from the Douglas Publishing Company (Buffalo, NY) in 1908:
When pulled, a flip book of images from around campus, including the College of Agriculture, the Interior of the Library, and Foellinger Auditorium, is revealed [11].
Good luck on finals and congratulations to the class of 2025!
You can view these postcards and many other materials here at the Archives Research Center.
Sources:
[1] RS 39/2/28
[2] “History of postcards,” World Postcard Day, https://worldpostcardday.com/history.
[3] “Postcard History,” Smithsonian Institution Archives,
https://siarchives.si.edu/history/featured-topics/postcard/postcard-history.
[4] RS 39/2/28 Box 26, “Class Memorials.”
[5] “Postcard History,” Smithsonian Institution Archives,
https://siarchives.si.edu/history/featured-topics/postcard/postcard-history.
[6] RS 39/2/28 Box 39, “Animals – Cats.”
[7] RS 7/8/20
[8] RS 39/2/28 Box 14, “Philippines.”
[9] “Postcard History,” Smithsonian Institution Archives,
https://siarchives.si.edu/history/featured-topics/postcard/postcard-history
[10] RS 39/2/28 Box 39, “Historical.”
[11] RS 39/2/28 Box 26, “Folders & Panoramics.”
