stcards in gas stations are still a common sight today. While postcards may have been sold in hotel lobbies and other shops, they were not present in gas and service stations until, well, these stations actually existed in the mid-1900s.
First, a little background about the history of tourism in the United States, which is longer than you may realize. Starting in the 1820s, popular tourist destinations included the spa resorts and hot springs at Saratoga Springs, New York and Niagara Falls—the Hudson River Valley was a popular area. The extended trip to Europe enjoyed by the upper classes, but tourism in upstate New York was accessible to the middle class of merchants and landowners. The Hudson River School of art arose, and famed American artists such as Thomas Cole painted landscapes that the masses yearned to behold for themselves. Stagecoach routes, canals, and steamships provided passage for the swarms of tourists to flock to these locales.[1]
For obvious reasons, the American Civil War and Reconstruction put a damper upon tourism. But the industry once again returned in the 1870s and 1880s with the establishment of the national parks at Yosemite and Yellowstone. The expansion of railroads certainly contributed to the expanding movement of tourists throughout the country, and the wide availability of the automobile by the mid-1910s only served to continue that growth.[2] Surprisingly, the Great Depression did little to impede the growth of tourism; tourism spending as a percentage of national income increased from 2.96% in the 1920s to 4.37% in 1935.[3]
First, a little background about the history of tourism in the United States, which is longer than you may realize. Starting in the 1820s, popular tourist destinations included the spa resorts and hot springs at Saratoga Springs, New York and Niagara Falls—the Hudson River Valley was a popular area. The extended trip to Europe enjoyed by the upper classes, but tourism in upstate New York was accessible to the middle class of merchants and landowners. The Hudson River School of art arose, and famed American artists such as Thomas Cole painted landscapes that the masses yearned to behold for themselves. Stagecoach routes, canals, and steamships provided passage for the swarms of tourists to flock to these locales.[1]
For obvious reasons, the American Civil War and Reconstruction put a damper upon tourism. But the industry once again returned in the 1870s and 1880s with the establishment of the national parks at Yosemite and Yellowstone. The expansion of railroads certainly contributed to the expanding movement of tourists throughout the country, and the wide availability of the automobile by the mid-1910s only served to continue that growth.[2] Surprisingly, the Great Depression did little to impede the growth of tourism; tourism spending as a percentage of national income increased from 2.96% in the 1920s to 4.37% in 1935.[3]