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Postcards

The period between 1905 and 1915 is considered the golden age of postcards in America. Their one-penny price made them an attractive medium for communication, and the number of subjects they embraced made them collectable. Moreover the photographic postcard allowed for production of cards with local or special interest subjects. In fact, it was common for individuals to have their family snapshots printed on postcard stock.



Technically there are two kinds of cards: government or commercially printed–the former a postal card with a printed stamp; the latter a post card, either blank or printed in a number of designs, to which a stamp must be affixed. In many instances, however, both are lumped together as “postcards.” Use of government postal cards dates from 1873. In 1893 business successfully petitioned the government to end its monopoly and extend recognition to commercially manufactured cards. Privately printed picture postcards cost the same to mail as government cards, but the scene occupying one complete face of the picture card and the space for address on the other leaves less than half of one side for a message.



In Nebraska State Historical Society collections are dozens of categories of picture cards, most of them with a Nebraska connection: vistas, buildings, wildlife, agricultural products, transportation, famous persons, sports, calendars, and humor. Many are multi-colored, some exquisitely printed; others are sepia-toned or black and white.



The presidential campaign of 1908, which pitted Republican William Howard Taft against Democrat William Jennings Bryan, involved the extensive use of postcards as a political advertising medium. No other presidential campaign generated such a large number of politically oriented cards, which can be divided into two types based on technology. The first consists of photographs of candidates campaigning or posing for the camera, with a minimum of retouching. The second type consists of cartoons or of combinations of photographs and other graphics. One striking example of this second type is a card depicting the candidates at exercise: a cartoon Bryan is industriously raking hay while Taft takes his exercise on the golf course.



The year 1908, too, was the zenith of the era of humorous postcards, which declined dramatically between 1910 and 1914. New means of communication were reducing the popularity of the penny postcard, although it did not increase from the traditional price until January 1, 1952.

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Other Publications

The Bachelors’ Protective Union of Kearney

When the Bachelors' Protective Union gave a gala reception for two of its newly married, former members and their brides in March of 1890, the social club for young, ...

U.S. Weather Bureau in 1890s Nebraska

The U.S. Weather Bureau was established by an act of Congress on October 1, 1890. It took over the weather service that had been established in the office of the Chief ...

Canning the Way to Victory

During American participation in World War I the U.S. Food Administration, under the direction of Herbert Hoover, launched a massive campaign to persuade Americans to ...

The Shoemaker’s Ashes

"Edward Kuehl, one of the most peculiar characters that ever lived in Omaha, or anywhere else, was found dead in his bed last night in the back room of his place of ...

Crazy Horse Surrender Ledger Foreward

Red Dog, an Oglala Lakota who lived at the Red Cloud Agency, Nebraska, 1876-77 (Nebraska State Historical Society RG2955.ph).   In the summer of 1876, following the ...

Darryl F. Zanuck

Darryl F. Zanuck Darryl F. Zanuck (1902-1979), a native Nebraskan, produced some of Hollywood's most important and controversial films. He helped found 20th Century Fox ...

The Burlington’s Profitable Pork Special

Nebraska railroads were much concerned with developing an adequate economy in the areas they served. The Burlington, for example, had a long history of caring for the ...

Bungalow Filling Stations

After the giant Standard Oil Company was broken into thirty-four separate companies in 1911, the newly independent Standard Oil of Nebraska dominated the state's market ...

The Bull Fight

This is the perfect time of year for a visit to the old fishin' hole. But a group of fisherfolk from Plainview discovered that this bucolic pastime sometimes has ...

Buffalo Soldiers West

African-American soldiers on the western frontier are the focus of an exhibit at the Nebraska History Museum in Lincoln. Buffalo Soldiers West, on loan from the Colorado ...

Protection for Buffalo

The extermination of the buffalo on the Plains occurred largely between 1870 and 1885. The Nebraska State Journal of Lincoln on February 1, 1874, editorialized in vain ...

Buffalo Hunting

In late October 1877 young Rolf Johnson and three friends left their homes in Phelps County, Nebraska, for a buffalo hunt in northeastern Colorado. The hunt was not very ...

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The Nebraska State Historical Society was founded in 1878 by citizens who recognized Nebraska was going through great changes and they sought to record the stories of both indigenous and immigrant peoples. It was designated a state institution and began receiving funds from the legislature in 1883. Legislation in 1994 changed NSHS from a state institution to a state agency. The division is headed by Interim Director Cindy Drake. They are assisted by an administrative staff responsible for financial and personnel functions, museum store services, security, and facilities maintenance for NSHS.

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