Postcards of The University of Michigan: A UMarch Exhibition

Postcards of
The University of Michigan
A UMarch Exhibit

"…Nobody need fear that there is any spot on earth which is not depicted in this wonderful oblong. The photographer has photographed everything between the poles. He has snapshotted the earth…It is impossible to gaze on a ruin without finding a picture postcard of it at your elbow." 1
We are so used to picture postcards that we rarely think about the changes both signified and prompted by their invention at the end of the nineteenth century. The acceptance and use of the postcard reflect dramatic societal transitions prompted by mass-production, improvements in transportation, and technological innovations. The invention of roll film and the introduction of George Eastman's first Kodak camera to the American mass-market in the 1880s facilitated the visual documentation of the world. Interest in recording the world coupled with the burgeoning field of tourism fed the demand for postcards once they were introduced. This exhibit will explore the history of the picture postcard, the architect's use of the postcard, and the collecting craze that evolved around it at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Enter the Postcard Exhibit

History (Page 2 through 6) :: Popularization (Page 17 through 31) :: Postcards and Architecture (Page 32 through -51) :: Collecting Cards :: (Page 52 through 60) :: Conclusion (Page 61) :: Bibliography and Credits (Page 62-64)

		Postcards of The University of Michigan A UMarch Exhibit

"…Nobody need fear that there is any spot on earth which is not depicted in this wonderful oblong. The photographer has photographed everything between the poles. He has snapshotted the earth…It is impossible to gaze on a ruin without finding a picture postcard of it at your elbow." 1 We are so used to picture postcards that we rarely think about the changes both signified and prompted by their invention at the end of the nineteenth century. The acceptance and use of the postcard reflect dramatic societal transitions prompted by mass-production, improvements in transportation, and technological innovations. The invention of roll film and the introduction of George Eastman's first Kodak camera to the American mass-market in the 1880s facilitated the visual documentation of the world. Interest in recording the world coupled with the burgeoning field of tourism fed the demand for postcards once they were introduced. This exhibit will explore the history of the picture postcard, the architect's use of the postcard, and the collecting craze that evolved around it at the beginning of the twentieth century.		Enter the Postcard Exhibit
History (Page 2 through 6) :: Popularization (Page 17 through 31) :: Postcards and Architecture (Page 32 through -51) :: Collecting Cards :: (Page 52 through 60) :: Conclusion (Page 61) :: Bibliography and Credits (Page 62-64)