Before there was Instagram there were postcards.
When photography was yet to be a hobby of the masses, people sent each other postcards. It was the way to capture where you were and share it with the people near and far.
It was also an easy and cheap way for people to communicate.
“It was before photography really became easy to access or affordable for your average person,” said Greg Walz, engagement manager for the Utah Historical Society
According to the Smithsonian Institution Archives, the practice of sending postcards in the United States dates back to the mid-1800s.
And yes we know people still send and collect them today. But some of these postcards in at the Utah State Historical Society predate colored photography and even Utah statehood.
“So the bulk of the postcard you see, even circa 1900, or the late 1800s, are actually in color, although there are some black and white, but it's far less common than you might think, Walz said. “Postcards in a way could capture a moment in color before the rise of colored photography.”
Colored postcards were possible through a common method called Chromolithography.The negative of a photo was transferred to a chemically-treated glass plate. Then the image is modified by removing or adding details, and adding color by hand tinting or screening
The Utah State Historical Society has a collectionof over 200 postcards dating back to the 1800s. The curated collection of postcards represents, Utah's early tourism industry in the years surrounding Statehood. According to Walz, many in the collection were donated to Historical Society.
The collection, which boasts postcards of famous Utah and SLC landmarks like the Tabernacle, The Great Salt Lake, The Salt Flats, Salt air, Antelope Island, Bryce Canyon, Liberty Park, The Salt Palace, There’s some from Logan and Ogden. Many postcards included a description on the back.
“At the time, it was about as close as you could get to sending something instantaneously,” Walz said. “I mean, there's no comparison in that sense to Instagram, but you could legitimately send a postcard and it could get to a neighboring state, and let's say a week or two weeks. So in that sense, transferring your memories of a travel experience could happen much faster. Just like with Instagram, it's just not as fast.”
Interested in seeing these postcards? You can visit the digitized collection here or set up an appointment to see them in person with theUtah Historical Society.
