Postcards as Communication

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Postcards were particularly useful as a cheap method to send pictures along with a message. Known as real photo postcards, a photograph or negative could be sent to a local photography or stationary store and printed on to hundreds of postcards. In the 1910s, a set of 100 postcards cost the equivalent of about $25 today. The quality of the image depended of the photographer, but the quality of the postcard was up to the manufacturer. Some of the postcards within the Fitzpatrick-Postma Collection have photographs that were printed on crooked or only partially printed.

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Rose McCollock poses on her 8th birthday, April 25, 1916.

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Mrs. Sarah Jane McCracken Smith (right) enjoys tea with Mrs. Margaret Usher (middle) and an unknown woman. Mrs. Smith is the mother of Charlene Fitzpatrick.

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An unknown family poses with their rifles, animals, and a few ducks acquired during a hunt.

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A member of the band took this photograph moments before heading off to play at a football game.

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Most real photo postcards have photographs of posed individuals or special events printed on them. Some, however, depict everyday moments.

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Some of the photographs chosen to be printed on postcards are a little comical.

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The Jackson Album is filled with real photo postcards of the Weatherby family.

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Olive Weatherby Jackson stands on a porch holding her kitten.

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Samuel Weatherby proudly shows off his first place ribbon.

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Edward Weatherby, the superintendent at Lawrence Business College, poses with his children.

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This record breaking snow in 1912 prevented the Weatherby family from attending Sunday School.

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Thompson Studio in Lawrence was one example of a photography studio that offered postcards of the pictures they took.

Real photo postcards not only allowed people to easily share pictures of their family, they could also show off their businesses. Below are a few postcards used by business owners or workers to show off to family or friends.

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Charles Edmondson, the owner of C.D. Edmondson & Co., uses a postcard of his store to write a note to a relative in California.

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A surprise photography session allowed one of the barbers at the Eldridge Hotel to show off his work space to a friend.

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Effie tries to convince her sister to come visit by sending her a picture of "the place."