Postcard Collection

Scope and Content Note

The New York State Library Postcard collection comprises over ten thousand postcards of New York State.  The postcards in this collection range in date from the late nineteenth century to the present day, with the bulk dated from 1905 to 1930.

Most cards in the collection were commercially produced and represent well known landmarks, buildings, monuments of major cities and popular tourist destinations, such as the State Capitol in Albany, Statue of Liberty, and Niagara Falls. The hustle and bustle of New York City is well documented in this collection as too, are the major upstate cities of Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse. 

Coverage of the many small cities and towns of New York State is also quite extensive, as depicted in street scenes and domestic buildings. Agriculture, industry, commerce, and the transportation infrastructure of New York State are extensively depicted too.

Along with buildings and structures, this collection also represents aspects of social life in New York State during the past century. Some cards were privately produced and are in fact photographs that have been printed on postcard paper. These were created by individuals for the consumption primarily by friends and relatives.  This includes views of blacksmiths at work, farm chores, camping and hunting.

The postcard collection is arranged alphabetically by county and then by locality, with the exception of New York City, which is arranged by borough. Also, there are some special categories for postcards of a particular region or event, such as Adirondack Mountains, Catskill Mountains, Hudson River Valley, Mohawk River Valley, and the Hudson-Fulton Celebration of 1909.

Although most of the cards depict sights in New York State, the collection includes scenes of some places outside of New York State, most notably Niagara Falls, Canada, as well as cards of many world fairs and expositions held outside of New York, such as the World Columbian Exposition, 1893, and the Century of Progress, 1933, both of which were held in Chicago. One postcard album consists of views depicting the places a Robert and Clara Fulton visited during their tour of the world from September 1908 through May 1909.

 

This collection also includes souvenir folders, double panel, jumbo postcards, and various novelty postcards items that file separately from the standard-size postcards.

Postcards are not only visual records.  Many of the postcards were in fact mailed and so contain written messages, stamps, and postmarks.  The backs of the cards were also printed with information about the publisher, captions describing the image, and ornaments.  The printed text, along with the stamp and postmark, can help to date and place the manufacture and use of the cards. (See Appendix A: History of picture postcards in the United States for more information on dating U.S. postcards.) Alternatively, the captions and written messages contain a wealth of information that can be used to learn about the postcard's image or to illuminate the attitudes and interests of the past.