Delaware in Vintage Postcards

By Ellen Rendle and Constance J. Cooper

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the 200 historic views in Delaware in Vintage Postcards provide eloquent commentary on the First State in the early part of the twentieth century. Capturing the era between 1905 and 1925, this charming retrospective takes readers on a journey from Selbyville and Fenwick Island to Claymont, Arden, and Hockessin, and down the picturesque Main Streets of more than fifty Delaware towns. Illustrated postcards, which became popular at the turn of the last century, highlight the economic importance of land and sea, the state's varied architectural beauty, and the everyday lives of Delaware citizens.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Aug 6, 2001
• ISBN: 9781439612187

Ellen Rendle

In this new volume of visual history, authors Ellen Rendle and Constance J. Cooper have selected images from the Historical Society of Delaware's Postcard Collection to illustrate the state's unique past. Whether strolling along the beaches of resort towns such as Rehoboth Beach and Oak Orchard, sailing down the Mispillion and Broadkill Rivers, or wandering the streets of Lincoln and Townsend, readers of all ages are sure to delight in this entertaining tour through the singular history of Delaware.

Book preview

you.

INTRODUCTION

Postcards weren’t just souvenirs for travelers in the early 1900s. One of the nation’s first crazes in the early years of the 20th century, postcards were used by many people to send quick messages and greetings, much as we use the telephone and e-mail today. Unlike our modern means of communication, however, these early postcards left a paper trail that can inform, amuse, and delight us today. Many cards were commercially produced. They depicted main streets, residential neighborhoods, schools, churches, public buildings, historic sites, beautiful scenery, and even farms and factories. The format proved to be so popular that private individuals had unique photographic images of themselves, or their homes, farms, and businesses printed as postcards to send to friends and family. Although many of the towns and scenes may now seem quaint or even obscure, they were not in their own time. Today these cards provide a rich visual record of the past.

Not only did people send postcards, they also saved and collected them. Today, many have found their way into the collections of libraries and historical societies. The Historical Society of Delaware has approximately 1,800 postcards of scenes in the First State dating from the early 1900s to the present. Delaware presents over 200 cards dating from 1905 to 1925, a fraction of the society’s collection. They were selected to present highlights of the landscape and built environment of Delaware in the early 20th century. The society’s entire postcard collection may be viewed during the library’s regular hours.

Homes, main streets, schools, steamers carrying passengers along the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, a yard full of yams at a Seaford packing plant, shad nets and boats in New Castle—all teach us about ways of life long vanished. Looking at cards, we witness first hand the pride of Georgetown residents as they decorated their downtown for Homecoming. We see busy resorts at Bowers, Oak Orchard, and Augustine Beach, places that today serve as private havens compared to their busy past. We see the pride invested in churches, schools, and courthouses, and the bright business and economic prospects symbolized in the postcard of a small town’s railroad station.

The early 20th century was a transitional era for Delawareans. People traveled by buggy, steamer, railway, or automobile. During the 20 years depicted in this book, the state’s landscape was undergoing important changes. Small southern towns like Laurel, Milton, and Milford experienced a decline in shipbuilding and the use of ships for transporting produce to market. The railroad, which laid its tracks down the state during the late 1850s and 1860s, both made and broke small towns. Some, like Delmar, used the railroad to grow. This community did not exist until a station was build in the middle of a forest and businesses and homes grew around it. Others, like Cantwell’s Bridge (Odessa), shunned the railroad to cling to shipping by water, only to find their economic base migrating to the nearest railroad station.

During this era, miles of roads were paved for automobile traffic, providing yet another avenue for commerce and travel. Opening ceremonies for the Du Pont Highway in 1924 signaled a new era. Newly paved roads across Sussex County brought countless out-of-state tourists to the beach.

It is not surprising then that postcards seem to be akin to badges of pride for small communities. New school buildings, hospitals, parades, and business concerns were all sources of this pride. Who wouldn’t want to send a distant friend or relative the latest card showing a beautiful new residential street in town, or the latest view of the main business intersection?

In the end, we are the recipients of these postcards. They were not made for us or sent to us. But they tell us the story of their era, one of hope and pride. Delaware is a delightful trip around the 1,982 square miles that First Staters call home, through the marshlands and farmlands, along the shorelines of creeks, rivers, and bays, and down city streets. These images allow us to travel on the best mode of transportation for a trip back to the early 1900s—the postcard.

BRANDYWINE PARK, 1910–1930. A scene familiar to Wilmington residents, this view looks west in Brandywine Park. The Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad stone bridge, built in 1909, is seen with the older, steel-truss B&O bridge, built in 1884, behind it.

One

SUSSEX COUNTY BEACHES

LIFE-SAVING STATION, BETHANY BEACH, 1908. This life-saving station, built between Indian River and Fenwick Island in 1907, was taken over by the Coast Guard in 1909. A chain