The recent New Yorker blog post “Off the shelf: Folk Photography” by Rollo Romig about the popularity of postcards renewed my enthusiasm for our collection at the Brooklyn Historical Society. Widely printed, mailed, and collected, we have thousands of postcards depicting a long ago Brooklyn and from one Brooklynite to another. Not only are the images great to see, they show a Brooklyn from years ago that may or may not still exist and the correspondence is fascinating to read. They are somewhat like the tweets, text messages, and emails we send today. At only a penny to send, why not, right? Here is a small selection of our postcards.
November 29, 1891. No chance to write, calls all morning . . . v1973.4.761. Photography Collection of the Brooklyn Historical Society.
November 20, 1906. Dear Laura, Another for your collection . . . v1973.4.296. Photography Collection of the Brooklyn Historical Society.
I am trying to get you a soldier. Estelle. v1988.20.68. The Photography Collection of the Brooklyn Historical Society.
1890. The view from our garden. 1 Grace Court. Brooklyn Heights. v1973.4.953. The Photography Collection of the Brooklyn Historical Society.
No Date. When you are big enough you must go to Luna Park to see the circus. v1973.4.712. The Photography Collection of the Brooklyn Historical Society.
Flatbush Avenue, ca. 1880. This view was taken just south of Cortelyou Road, and is looking north. The avenue was still a dirt road with wooden planks. Note the Jeremiah Lott homestead. v1973.4.641. The Photography Collection of the Brooklyn Historical Society.
Thanks! Great postcards.j
These are wonderful.
Thanks for sharing these wonderful postcards!
My pleasure. Please come in and look at the rest!
it would be really great to see these a bit bigger…