Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Guide to the Washington Postcards

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAH.AC.0413
Creators:
Washington News Co.
Buckingham, C. O.
North Carolina Museum of History
Dates:
circa 1906
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
1 Folder
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
Three picture postcards of Washington, D.C., one postmarked 1906; all are photomechanical reproductions of photographs: two color photolithographs of: (1) the Library of Congress (printed in Germany, addressed, with Christmas greeting, postmarked 1906); (2) the Lincoln Memorial (publ. Washington News Co., copyright C.O. Buckingham, no message, unmailed); and (3) a black-and-white advertising postcard of a restaurant interior ("The Parrot", no message, unmailed).

Arrangement

Arrangement
Collection is unarranged.

HIstorical Note

HIstorical Note
"Picture postcards became the medium of choice for informal correspondence shortly after their introduction in the first decade of the twentieth century. Many postcards were engraved, lithographed, or otherwise mass produced.... Taken as a whole, postcards provide us with the most complete pictorial record of life in early twentieth century America...."*
The history of commercial photomechanical postcard publishing is treated in references such as: Range, Thomas E. The Book of Postcard Collecting. New York: Dutton, 1980.

Administration

Author
David Haberstich
Processing Information
This collection was processed by David E. Haberstich, curator, 1991.
Custodial History
Found in postcard collections of North Carolina Museum of History (North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources), Raleigh, North Carolina, and donated to the Smithsonian Institution, February 1988, through Allen R. Hoilman, Collections Assistant.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Collection donated by North Carolina Museum of History, through Allen R. Hoilman, Collections Assistant in 1988 and 1989.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Use
Probably public domain due to copyright expiration. Fees for commercial use.
Preferred Citation
Washington Postcards, circa 1906, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Postcards -- 1900-1910 Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Picture postcards -- 1890-1910 Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photolithographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photomechanical prints Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Buildings -- 1900-1910 -- Washington (D.C.) Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Restaurants -- 1900-1910 Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Tourist trade -- 1900-1910 Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Reproductions Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photomechanical prints -- 1900-1950 Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Library of Congress -- 1900-1910 -- Washington (D.C.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lincoln Memorial (Washington, D.C.) -- 1900-1910 Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Parrot, The (restaurant) -- ca. 1906 -- Washington (D.C.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Archives Center, National Museum of American History
P.O. Box 37012
Suite 1100, MRC 601
Washington, D.C. 20013-7012
archivescenter@si.edu