Product Description

It may be hard to believe, but there actually was a time when the postcard image was not a cliché. To reach it, you'll have to set your clock back to the end of the nineteenth century, when an Act of Congress allowed Americans to mail a card for just one cent. A few years later, Kodak introduced an easy-to-use and affordable folding camera that put postcard power into the hands of ordinary citizens, setting off a craze. Real Photo Postcards is a collection of the most outlandish and idiosyncratic, beautiful and even occasionally bizarre images of this early postcard period. Painstakingly assembled from the collection of Harvey Tulcensky, one of the world's most avid collectors of these original postcards, Real Photo Postcards includes images of natural phenomena (floods, storms, fires), Main Street America, rural life, political parades, and wacky "exaggeration" cards (such as a photographically manipulated giant rabbit!). Together these cards show an oddly personal and intimate perspective of America at the turn of the 20th century.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #587013 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Sometimes the detritus of human history, that which was meant to be disposed of and forgotten, carries a greater and more lasting impact than those artifacts saved specifically for their purported historical value. In 1907 the U.S. Postal Service made an abrupt reversal of a law forbidding messages from being written on the backs of postcards. This change, coinciding with Kodak's introduction of an affordable, easy-to-use portable camera that printed out photographs onto heavy card stock, inspired a flurry of homespun postcards akin to the current digital photography craze. Because the photos were one-of-a-kind snapshots, produced predominantly by ordinary folks whose goal was to send a frozen moment, a fond wish or just a giggle to a friend or loved one, they tend toward an authenticity and an idiosyncrasy often lacking in more professional photographs of the day. These "real photo postcards" come from the extensive collection of artist Tulcensky; editor Wolff captions the photos with observations or notes from their backs, but mostly just lets these remarkable images speak for themselves. Organized into categories like "Parading," "Romance," "Disasters" and "Uncanny," this volume offers a unique glimpse of the early 20th century through the eyes of the everyman. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
...a collection of the most outlandish and idiosyncratic, beautiful and even occasionally bizarre images of this early postcard period. -- New England Antiques Journal, December 2005

...this volume offers a unique glimpse of the early 20th century through the eyes of the everyman. -- Publisher's Weekly

Sometimes beautiful, at times outlandish or bizarre, these postcards portray the optimism, sincerity, and stark reality of their time -- Step Inside Design, Jan/Feb 2006

About the Author
Harvey Tulcensky is a New York- based artist whose work is included in many collections including the Museum of Modern Art. Tulcensky has been collecting postcards for over 20 years. Laetitia Wolff is the design editor of Surface magazine, the former editor of Graphis, and an international consultant on design trends and culture. She is the founder of the creative consultancy futureflair.

Customer Reviews

postcards made from Kodak camera influencing subjects and styles of later photography
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.

Unbelievable eye
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".

An excellent look at the dawn of popular photography...
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.