In the early decades of the twentieth century, Iowans all across the Hawkeye State succumbed to the nationwide craze for exchanging photographic postcards, mailing each other thousands of images—serious and whimsical—of Uncle Bob and Baby Dora, the Sunday school outing, train wrecks, the Fourth of July celebration, the merchants' carnival, the record-setting blizzard following the bin-busting harvest, the new courthouse, Ackley's Sauer-Kraut Band. Now, thanks to the generosity of David A. Wilson, whose ample collection of photographic cards would be the envy of those early Iowans, Lyell Henry has organized more than two hundred postcards into eight reflective chapters that create a beguiling collective portrait of Iowa life and culture from 1905 to 1919.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful Look at Early Iowa,
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This review is from: Was This Heaven?: A Self-Portrait of Iowa on Early Postcards (Bur Oak Book) (Hardcover)
I love Lyell Henry's book, "Was This Heaven?". There is no better way to tell a story than to add photos. Gathered in one volume is a wonderful collection of approximately two hundred old, black and white postcards from the first decades of the twentieth century that offer up a slice of Americana and a whimsical look at Iowa's rich past.
Naturally, there are images of cows. Perhaps one of my favorite postcards depicts a prize hog. The reader sees marching bands, words of songs, a rack of chickens being loaded onto a railroad car and people engaged in the usual hometown activities such as Sunday school and Memorial Day services, but so much more! History is delivered up, postcard by postcard. Interspersed throughout the book are essays that place these objects of material culture within a greater context. The entire book is delightful and one that is fun to read whether one is an Iowan or just someone who appreciates American history.
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