A North Carolina Postcard Album, 1905-1925

Picture postcards, introduced in the United States at the turn of the twentieth century, quickly became one of the nation's most popular means of communicating. Sending and receiving messages accompanied by printed images was a novel and exciting experience for the general public at a time when the telephone was still in its infancy.Like the rest of the nation, North Carolina was caught up in the postcard craze during the first two decades of the twentieth century. Between 1905 and 1925 thousands of "view" cards depicting North Carolina scenes were produced. The cards feature a wide range of subject matter and reflect a topical and geographic diversity.The 520 postcard views reproduced in this volume offer a glimpse into a bygone era in the history of North Carolina. They depict the state's eight largest cities; its more numerous--and more typical--small towns; and the environment in which early twentieth-century North Carolinians resided, earned their livelihoods, conducted business, traveled, learned, worshiped, socialized, and engaged in popular diversions.With few exceptions, the images that compriseA North Carolina Postcard Album have never before been published. Their availability in this volume will add immeasurably to the visual record of the state's early twentieth-century towns, buildings, history, urban history, photography, architecture, historic preservation, and recreation.