The Chicago Postcard Museum is an online private and independent organization that seeks to provide a visual history of Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 through postcards.

History

The Chicago Postcard

Postcard

A postcard or post card is a rectangular piece of thick paper or thin cardboard intended for writing and mailing without an envelope....

 Museum was founded on November 1, 2007 by Dr. Neil Jan Gale. In honor of its opening, they created forty 26 cent postage stamps to be placed on mailing announcements. This website was created partially to preserve postcards, which are not used as frequently because of the internet. As Hypertext notes, "users are allowed not only to peruse [the postcards] but to use [them] on their own Web sites, provided they link back to the museum.

Importance

The Chicago Postcard Museum offers itself as a digital archive of postcards from individuals as well as a collection of postcards recounting a segment of Chicago history. Though the collecting of postcards, as Timeout Chicago notes, "might seem like an exercise in irony (a website dedicated to a form of communication that's been...supplanted by the Web?)," the preservation of this medium of communication provides an archive that can allow future historians access to contemporary and past methods of interaction, as well as visual imagery that had contemporary significance.

Postcard condition statement

Postcards are welcomed whether new or old, written on or blank. The fronts and backs of every postcard are preserved and shown on the site. Each postcard is carefully preserved, but nothing is fixed in order to maintain the character of each postcard.

The collection

The postcards are donated to the museum and its owners. They are organized into a series of web pages. The entire collection is willed to the Chicago History Museum upon the curator's death.

19th Century Rotunda

This collection shows postcards from the 19th Century Era, also known as the Private Mailing Card Era. The collection has postcards from the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893. The first commercial postal cards produced in the U.S. were sold at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

Greetings From Chicago & Large Letter Postcards

There is a complete collection of Greeting from Chicago postcards and large Letter postcards sorted by postmark date when possible.

Early 20th Century Wing: The 'Golden Age' of Postcards

The time period in this wing is from 1900 through 1949, and includes postcards from the turn of the 20th century in which Chicago grew by leaps and bounds.

Hold to Light Koehler Chicago Postcards

Hold to Light is a term that means 'when held up to a strong light, the moon, the windows, and vehicles light up brilliantly.' The printing firm owned by Joseph Koehler from 1892–1911 became well known especially after publishing an unofficial postcard set of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Koehler postcards have a very distinct style to them and is the reason why Koehler postcards are so sought after by collectors. All Joseph Koehler postcards were printed in Berlin, Germany.

"I WILL" Galleries

Located in The Gregg P. Durham Lobby, the "I Will" Chicago Postcard series was produced by the Acmegraph Company, Chicago ca.1910. The series reflected the Chicago motto, born after the Great Chicago Fire

Great Chicago Fire

The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned from Sunday, October 8, to early Tuesday, October 10, 1871, killing hundreds and destroying about in Chicago, Illinois. Though the fire was one of the largest U.S...

 on Sunday, October 8, 1871, which is "I WILL" rebuild.

Chicago At Night

There is a complete collection of Chicago at night postcards that is sorted by age when possible.

Special Exhibits Hall

Located in The Richard J. Daley

Richard J. Daley

Richard Joseph Daley served for 21 years as the mayor and undisputed Democratic boss of Chicago and is considered by historians to be the "last of the big city bosses." He played a major role in the history of the Democratic Party, especially with his support of John F...

 Memorial Green Room, the collection is dedicated to displaying the great features of Chicago. The Special Exhibits Hall hosts the museum's temporary exhibitions and special postcard collections. Some of the exhibitions cover The Museum of Science and Industry

Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago)

The Museum of Science and Industry is located in Chicago, Illinois, USA in Jackson Park, in the Hyde Park neighborhood adjacent to Lake Michigan. It is housed in the former Palace of Fine Arts from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition...

 and The Art Institute of Chicago

Art Institute of Chicago

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...

.

Section Seven-89

The collection includes cards from the 1970s to the 1990s. Postcard styles changed to scalloped edges, a color border and a thin strip of white space with the cards title.

The 21st Century Annex

The collection includes 4 by 6 in (10.2 by 15.2 ) postcards, over-sized postcards, and shaped cutout postcards that represent the 21st century.

The Conference Center

There is a collection of postcards that users and visitors can help the Museum determine what category these postcards belong in.

The Panoramic Pavilion

There is a complete collection of panoramic photographic postcards that show The Shedd Aquarium

Shedd Aquarium

The John G. Shedd Aquarium is an indoor public aquarium in Chicago, Illinois in the United States that opened on May 30, 1930. The aquarium contains over 25,000 fish, and was for some time the largest indoor aquarium in the world with of water. The Shedd Aquarium was the first inland aquarium with...

and more.

New Acquisitions

The new acquisitions section highlights latest discoveries provided by users and visitors.

External links

• Chicago Postcard Museum

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