Customer Reviews

Real Photo Postcards: Unbelievable Images from the Collection of Harvey Tulcensky

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In the early 1900s, Kodak promoted real photo postcards which could be mailed for one cent through the post office using the company's first inexpensive, portable camera made for the public. Such a post card could be made out of any photograph taken by the camera. The nearly 200 real photo cards show the variety of ways the public responded to this opportunity to try out the new camera and get in touch with relatives and friends. People would send photos of parades, circuses, snowstorms, and pictures of themselves, often in playful poses or amusing settings. Some of the cards were surreal-like with their distortions in the sizes of objects; which could also be amusing, as one from Kansas where a giant cricket is attacking a car and the note, "See what we have to put up with out here." The amateurish, popular use and subjects is apparent in practically all of the photo postcards. But what is also apparent--pointed out in the brief introductory essay--is the real photo postcards' part in familiarizing the public with the camera and interesting them in its possibilities, laying the grounds for the photojournalism and the art photography of the following decades.

I collect postcards, and any postcard collector will be drawn to similar images, the exaggerated giant ears of corn, Colonel Teddy Roosevelt, the disaster cards of train derailment, or a gathering of balloons for a race. In the collection Tulcensky' artistic eye shines in some of the unique selections: the car with lion-headed costumed riders in the back, workers at a salt mine, or a bridge of Pomeranian dogs over a child from 1908.

All of the cards are "real photo" postcards, taken with a camera, and not a printing press. The postmarks in this collection are included so about half the cards are dated and range from 1901 to 1950, but probably most being 1909-1919. All are in black and white, and may include the text of the note on the postcard. The brief interview with Tulcensky reveals his interest. This book will be enjoyed not just by postcard collectors, but those interested in images taken the by the "everyman".

Witnessing the dawn of a new art form is a rare experience made even rarer by the lack of documentary evidence. For example, nobody recorded the invention of musical notation in Mesopotamia (c. 2000 BC) or the first use of perspective painting in ancient Greece (c. 900 BC).

Thank heavens, then, for Harvey Tulcensky. His amazing 2,000+ piece collection forms the core of this wonderful little book. It's a joy to behold these candid and captivating photo postcards. I only wish the publisher would issue about 20 more volumes! To understand why this book is so valuable, a little historical background is in order:

Kodak introduced it's first "Brownie" camera in February 1900. Made of cardboard, it cost about $1 and enabled many ordinary people to start taking photographs for the first time. Over the next ten years or so, Eastman Kodak perfected the box-like camera, making it easier to use and much sturdier for traveling shutterbugs. In 1907, the U.S. Congress passed a new law that enabled photo postcards to be sent throughout America using a single one-cent stamp (usually the green Benjamin Franklin penny stamp).

These two innovation sparked an enormous wave of interest in amateur photography. Hundreds of millions of photo postcards were mailed over the next five years -- approximately two postcards for every man, woman and child in the country EVERY YEAR, by my calculation. Every state. Every topic. Every imaginable theme. Not only was it a technological and business boom, it also gave rise to a tremendous spirit of experimentation.

Many of the "cutting edge" techniques that we associate with professional art photography, such as photo-montage, image manipulation, double-exposures, social realism, photojournalism, etc., were actually invented by amateur photographers and small-town photo shops in the years just before World War I.

This book provides a delightful sampling of genuine photo postcards from that golden era. Each section is organized by theme, such as the workplace, transportation, farming, disasters, portraits, etc. Most are from the United States, with a smattering from France and perhaps the U.K. Author Todd E. Alden and editor Laetitia Wolff deserve our great thanks for assembling this wonderful peek inside Tulcensky's collection. The book's only shortcomings are these:

-- Alden's introductory essay is too short. Readers would benefit from a much longer discussion of the social and technological origins of the penny postcard boom. (I get the impression that Alden is more artist than historian.)

-- I'd like to see the address side of each postcard, which we only get on rare occasions. If that's not feasible, at least provide more complete notes on each postcard.

-- A photograph of postcard collector Tulcensky (himself an accomplished artist) would be very nice.

Overall, however, I give this book a solid A. It's a wonderful addition to just about any library. Thank you, Princeton Architectural Press. More please!

FULL DISCLOSURE: I also collect postcards and photography from the late 19th century and early 20th century.