Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #94649 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 274 pages

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.

Customer Reviews

Post card collector reviews
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.

Any serious photography library or collector's handbook holding must have this.
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

Encyclopedic but with an artist eye
What makes this book exceptional is that it provides both a good history, and fundamentals, while including around 300 superb examples of real photo cards. For the text there is a quick history of postcards and photography. For those trying to date cards, there are good hints, and the inclusion of appendix on dating based on stamps and the backs is a big help. By looking at the background of a few photographers, the reader is help to understand the life of a professional photographer of the time. This is supplemented by a discussion on how the author researched the life of photographer William Mandeville, and the appendix includes a brief paragraph on around 200 photographers. The longest chapter is on categories, with over 100 examples, and some favorites included "After shooting the oil tank", ""Calvin Coolidge plowing", and an early Coca-cola delivery truck.