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]
So now we’re caught up to 1939, when Union Oil Company produced the first Photochrome postcards. Photochrome, a color photolithographic process which utilizes multiple applications of different colors (in this case, CMYK or cyan, magenta, yellow, and black), had been around in one form or another since the turn of the century. These postcards became popular due to the ease of reproducing them without heavy touch-up as well as their photo-realistic appearance. Union Oil made these western-themed postcards freely available in their Union 76 service stations, though gas rationing during World War II stunted demand. Production (and widespread travel) resumed in the 1950s, and more Union Oil postcards were made available with production in 1947, 1948, 1950, and 1955.[4]
Chrome postcards are still widely available today. The collectability of these postcards in comparison to real photo postcards, linen postcards of the 1930s-1950s, and pre-World War I postcards is low, but their popularity is rising and should continue to do so as the postcard scenes become more and more nostalgic.
Check out the Union Oil postcards I have posted for sale in my Etsy shop, Postcardigans.
Chrome postcards are still widely available today. The collectability of these postcards in comparison to real photo postcards, linen postcards of the 1930s-1950s, and pre-World War I postcards is low, but their popularity is rising and should continue to do so as the postcard scenes become more and more nostalgic.
Check out the Union Oil postcards I have posted for sale in my Etsy shop, Postcardigans.
Notes
[1] Richard H. Gassan, The Birth of American Tourism: New York, the Hudson Valley, and the American Culture, 1790-1830 (Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 2008), 3.
[2] John F. Sears, Sacred Places: American Tourist Attractions in the Nineteenth Century (Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 1989), 8.
[3] Michael Berkowitz, “A ‘New Deal’ for Leisure: Making Mass Tourism during the Great Depression”, in Shelley Baranowski and Ellen Furlough, eds., Being Elsewhere: Tourism, Consumer Culture, and Identity in Modern Europe and North America (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2001), 185.
[4] “Photochromes,” Metropolitan Postcard Club, http://www.metropostcard.com/card12photochrome.html, accessed April 20, 2015; “UNION OIL 76 POSTCARD Checklist,” Walt’s Postcards, http://www.thepostcard.com/walt/unionchk.htm, accessed April 20, 2015.
[1] Richard H. Gassan, The Birth of American Tourism: New York, the Hudson Valley, and the American Culture, 1790-1830 (Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 2008), 3.
[2] John F. Sears, Sacred Places: American Tourist Attractions in the Nineteenth Century (Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 1989), 8.
[3] Michael Berkowitz, “A ‘New Deal’ for Leisure: Making Mass Tourism during the Great Depression”, in Shelley Baranowski and Ellen Furlough, eds., Being Elsewhere: Tourism, Consumer Culture, and Identity in Modern Europe and North America (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2001), 185.
[4] “Photochromes,” Metropolitan Postcard Club, http://www.metropostcard.com/card12photochrome.html, accessed April 20, 2015; “UNION OIL 76 POSTCARD Checklist,” Walt’s Postcards, http://www.thepostcard.com/walt/unionchk.htm, accessed April 20, 2015.