Collection of Rochester and regional post cards

Collection — Box: 1, Volume: 1-2

Identifier: 2018-025

Staff Only

Content Description

194 post cards, of which 93 are Rochester-specific and 101 are regional or beyond.

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of a geographically organized group of postcards, working outward from images of downtown Rochester, N. Y. at the beginning of the first volume to a small group of foreign postcards at the end of the second. Arranged and conserved by the unknown collector, this collection consists of both commercially printed and unique photographic postcards. The postcards depict landscapes, buildings and events.

Dates

Publication: 1894-1912, inferred from postmarks and construction dates of buildings shown.

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of this collection.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright is held by the Rochester Public Library, Local History and Genealogy Division. Copyright of the papers in the collection may be held by their authors, or the authors’ heirs or assigns. Researchers must obtain the written permission of the holder[s] of copyright and the Local History and Genealogy Division before publishing quotations from materials in the collection. Most papers may be copied in accordance with the library’s usual procedures unless otherwise specified.

Administrative History

The identity of the collector responsible for this collection is unknown.

The postcard was introduced to the United States in 1873, following a trend of allowing postage of preprinted cards that began in 1869 in Austria. As a medium, the postcard rapidly became a popular way of commnicating through the mail. Even greater, however, was the value of the postcard as a keepsake - vibrant images quickly became popular on postcards, and many were purchased as mementos rather than for sending messages, as evidenced by the many unmailed postcards in this collection. Postcards showed diverse scenes, though the depiction of landscapes and other views was by far the most common form of art printed on them. Views of buildings, commerce and street scenes were also popular, allowing people to communicate and/or remember the greatness of a place that had been visited with ease in an before photography became a mass pursuit.