Customer Reviews

Was This Heaven?: A Self-Portrait of Iowa on Early Postcards (Bur Oak Book)

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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.