A Delaware Album, 1900-1930 contains over 300 postcard photographs from
the entire state taken during the period from 1900 to 1930. Arranged by
subjects--City and Town Views; Delaware Beaches; Amusements; Industry
and Agriculture; Signs of the Times; Trains, Trolleys, and Automobiles;
Water Transportation; Schools; Religion; Businesses; Hotels and
Motels--each photo has a caption ranging from a sentence or two to
several paragraphs. The book's introduction details how the cards were
produced, analyzes the subject matter depicted on the cards, documents
the history of several of the most prominent local photographers in the
state whose work is found almost only on postcards, and traces the
evolution and popularization of postcard photography. Through the
photographs readers can witness the development of Delaware agriculture
and fisheries, the expansion of the railroad into southern Delaware, the
declining days of steamship service on Delaware rivers and creeks, the
fate of Middletown's last trolley, and Delaware's unsuccessful campaign
against King Alcohol. They can see how Delawareans worshiped, worked,
and shopped. They can visit local amusement parks and beaches from New
Castle county to Sussex county. For the early decades of the twentieth
century the postcard recorded every aspect of American life. As local
historians will tell you, the photographic record of small town America
during the period from 1900 to 1930 exists almost only on postcards.
That is why historical societies, libraries, and museums have begun to
amass postcard collections. In the last twenty years, historians and
scholars have increasingly turned to the postcard as a way of seeing
what our past literally looked like, what we enjoyed doing, where we
worked and played, how we viewed one other, what we thought was
important, and what prejudices we held.
