By Lynda Klich and Benjamin Weiss. Contributions by Eric Moskowitz, Jeff L. Rosenheim, Annie Rudd, Christopher B. Steiner, Anna Tome.
Postcards of a nation embracing a new democratic technology
The ubiquity of photography and social media today makes it hard to imagine a time when it was not possible for ordinary people to take their own pictures and send them with short messages over long distances. But it was revolutionary when the Eastman Kodak Company, in 1903, unveiled a new postcard camera that produced a postcard-size negative that could print directly onto a blank card. Suddenly almost anyone, amateurs and entrepreneurial photographers alike, could take a picture—of neighbors at home and at work, local celebrations, newsworthy disasters, sightseeing trips—and turn it into a postcard. This book captures this moment in the history of communications—from around 1900 to 1930—through a generous selection of what came to be known as “real photo postcards” from the extensive Leonard A. Lauder Postcard Archive. As the formality of earlier photography falls away, these postcards remind us that the past was occupied by people with distinct and individual stories, dramatic, humorous, puzzling and surprising.
Featured image is reproduced from 'Real Photo Postcards'.
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
The New York Times Book Review
Lucy Sante
Beautifully lucid, among the finest published collections thus far...serves up a panoramic view of the United States in the early 20th century.
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Featured postcards—captioned “Seen in Chinatown, 1912 or later,” “Swimmers at Saltair, 1918” and “Man and woman in an automobile, 1918”—are reproduced from Real Photo Postcards: Pictures from a Changing Nation, published to accompany the exhibition of early twentieth-century American postcards from the Leonard A. Lauder Postcard Archive currently on view at MFA Boston. “What attracted me most to U.S. real photos, and changed my collecting journey forever, was the thrill I got that realizing that everyone who had their picture taken for a postcard became a part of the great American journey,” Lauder writes. “Yes, these cards witness patriotism in times of war and exhilarating phases of the nation’s growth. But just as important for me, they reveal quieter daily moments that, without these cards, would have been lost to history, like parades and union picnics; the pride many individuals took in their work tools and in the new uniforms worn as a fireman or policeman; the economic mobility shown in someone’s crisp and stylish new Sunday best; and the heroic efforts of a community coming together to clean up after a flood or tornado.” continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 8.5 x 9.5 in. / 304 pgs / 340 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $45.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $61 GBP £36.00 ISBN: 9780878468843 PUBLISHER: MFA Publications, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston AVAILABLE: 6/7/2022 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: In stock TERRITORY: WORLD
Real Photo Postcards Pictures from a Changing Nation
Published by MFA Publications, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. By Lynda Klich and Benjamin Weiss. Contributions by Eric Moskowitz, Jeff L. Rosenheim, Annie Rudd, Christopher B. Steiner, Anna Tome.
Postcards of a nation embracing a new democratic technology
The ubiquity of photography and social media today makes it hard to imagine a time when it was not possible for ordinary people to take their own pictures and send them with short messages over long distances. But it was revolutionary when the Eastman Kodak Company, in 1903, unveiled a new postcard camera that produced a postcard-size negative that could print directly onto a blank card. Suddenly almost anyone, amateurs and entrepreneurial photographers alike, could take a picture—of neighbors at home and at work, local celebrations, newsworthy disasters, sightseeing trips—and turn it into a postcard.
This book captures this moment in the history of communications—from around 1900 to 1930—through a generous selection of what came to be known as “real photo postcards” from the extensive Leonard A. Lauder Postcard Archive. As the formality of earlier photography falls away, these postcards remind us that the past was occupied by people with distinct and individual stories, dramatic, humorous, puzzling and surprising.
