A Pennsylvania Album

The 270 photographs reproduced in this volume constitute a unique view of everyday life in each of Pennsylvania's counties during the period from 1900 until 1930. Taken from picture postcards, each photograph is accompanied by a short, informative caption.

These photographic postcards captured a way of life which has either disappeared or radically changed. The houses, neighborhoods, buildings, trains, trolleys, and the people caught in these photographs are gone. In the United States from 1900 until 1930 the postcard recorded every occasion. At a time when newspapers carried few photographs, the postcard offered an inexpensive and convenient way to capture events. Whenever America paraded or celebrated, whenever buildings burned or rivers flooded, the postcard recorded it.

Views of urban Pennsylvania offer insights into city life during the early decades of this century. Small town and rural Pennsylvania are often recorded only on postcard photographs. Since most of the photographs in this book were taken by amateur photographers, they are neither commercial nor common. Many survive in only a copy or two. Few have ever been reproduced before. Most are "snapshots," souvenirs not just of the unusual, but also of the ordinary. In their very naiveté there is a fascinating charm and honesty.

Subject headings include: views, transportation, advertising and business, agriculture and industry, education, religion, amusements, signs of the time, and celebrations.