Real Photo Postcard Guide: The People's Photography [Hardcover]

Robert Bogdan (Author), Todd Weseloh (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 21, 2006

Lavishly illustrated, this encyclopedic volume provides the most comprehensive look at the history and culture of real photo postcards to date.

The Real Photo Postcard Guide is an informative, comprehensive, and practical treatment of this wildly popular American phenomenon that dominated the United States photographic market during the first third of the twentieth century. Robert Bogdan and Todd Weseloh draw on extensive research and observation to address all aspects of the photo postcard from its history, origin, and cultural significance to practical matters like dating, purchasing, condition, and preservation.

Illustrated with over 350 exceptional photo postcards taken from archives and private collections across the country, the scope of the Real Photo Postcard Guide spans technical considerations of production, characteristics of superior images, collecting categories, and methods of research for dating photo postcards and investigating their photographers.

In a broader sense, the authors show how "real photo postcards" document the social history of America. From family outings and workplace awards to lynchings and natural disasters, every image captures a moment of American cultural history from the society that generated them.

Bogdan and Weseloh’s book provides an admirable integration of informative text and compelling photographic illustrations. Collectors, archivists, photographers, photo historians, social scientists, and anyone interested in the visual documentation of America will find the Real Photo Postcard Guide indispensable.

Editorial Reviews

Review

... if this handsomely produced book isn't the definitive general guide to understanding, valuing, and collecting photo postcards, nothing is. -- Matt Damsker, Photography Central

...an absolute must for any serious collector whether...photo historians or people who have the responsibility of collections of photographs... -- Editor, Postcard Pillar, Wellington, New Zealand

About the Author

Robert Bogdan is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Social Science at Syracuse University. He is the author of many books including Exposing the Wilderness: Early Twentieth-Century Adirondack Postcard Photographers and Adirondack Vernacular: The Photography of Henry M. Beach, both published by Syracuse University Press. His column on real photo postcards is a monthly feature in the magazine The Postcard Collector.

Todd Weseloh was the librarian/archivist at the Erie Canal Museum in Syracuse and has been an active collector of postcards since 1976.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 274 pages
• Publisher: Syracuse University Press; First Edition edition (September 21, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0815608519
• ISBN-13: 978-0815608516
• Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 8.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #834,567 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert Bogdan grew up in the Bronx and attended the University of Maine in Orono. After serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nigeria (1964-1966) he went to graduate school in sociology. He joined the faculty at Syracuse University in 1971. He has won many awards for his writing and teaching including an honorary doctorate degree from Stockholm University. Bogdan is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Social Science and Education at Syracuse University. After teaching for 35 years at Syracuse he retired to rural Vermont where he writes about real photo postcards, photography, disability and research methods.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Post card collector reviews, January 9, 2007

By 

Steven Lang "Tugboat Photos & Research" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Real Photo Postcard Guide: The People's Photography (Hardcover)

In the thirty five years of collecting postcards, with real photo post cards my speciality, there has never been a good book, until now covering this subject.

This book of 274 pages covers all aspects of what one would ever wish to know about this form of collectiing. Major chapter headings are: Introduction, Fundamentals, Photographers & Careers, Dimensions of Desirability,Collecting Categories, Objects to Treasure, Sitting in the Graveyard & Conclusion. Each chapter has many subdivisions, very well marked in the table of contents by page number. At the end is a very complete appendix & index. Being on the subject of photographs there are naturally a great number, totaling around 270.

The only reason I did not rate this 5 star is that the quality of the photo reproduction is not in keeping with the tremendous efforts the authors have put into this book. Though the photos are O.K., with todays technology, I feel the publisher let the authors down.

Collectors have been waiting a long time for a book like this, & I very much doubt that there is more to be said on this subject. The authors are to be congradulated on a job well done.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Any serious photography library or collector's handbook holding must have this., December 13, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Real Photo Postcard Guide: The People's Photography (Hardcover)

Photo postcard collectors and fans of photo postcard art have plenty to enjoy in REAL PHOTO POSTCARD GUIDE: THE PEOPLE'S PHOTOGRAPHY. Such art dominated the U.S. Photo market during the first third of the 20th century, but until now hasn't received a comprehensive coverage. The authors have plumbed archives and conducted original research to cover photo postcard history, art, and specifics on dating and preserving a collection. Over three hundred photo postcards from archives and private collections across the country display a fine range of black and white images. Any serious photography library or collector's handbook holding must have this.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Resource, August 5, 2008

By 

Karen M. Kondrick (Western New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Real Photo Postcard Guide: The People's Photography (Hardcover)

I bought this book to learn more about the Real Photo Postcards I had become addicted to buying. It is full of the history of postcards, photography and the combination of the two in the form of Real Photo Postcards. It has excellent resources in the appendixes to help you date your cards. I have used the book to date my postcards, include informational background for lesson plans (I teach a writing workshop using RPPCs, and to give me context when I creatively write fiction with the real Photo Postcards.