Elgin, Illinois: Wish You Were Here

By William E. Bennett

Elgin, Illinois, was founded in 1835. However, the community truly came into its own at the end of the Civil War, when the Elgin National Watch Company moved there and took the city name as its own. The name Elgin became synonymous with quality for over 100 years. Elgin, Illinois: "Wish You Were Here" tells the story of the town of Elgin during the 20th century, featuring vintage postcards of that period.

Special events of historic interest include the tornado of 1920, and the Elgin Road Races, which gained national fame for a brief time around the World War I era. More than 200 pictures, culled from the collection of the Elgin Area Historical Society, and colorful narratives tell of the accomplishments by those first few generations who lived and died in the community.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Sep 13, 2001
• ISBN: 9781439613238

William E. Bennett

Though William E. Bennett, an active member of the local historical society, is listed as the author, this book is a collaborative effort of many members. Join them on a fascinating visual journey into the history of Elgin, Illinois. You will truly wish you were here.

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INTRODUCTION

During the mid-1800s, lithography and photography were used for souvenir pictures of tourist attractions and special events in the world’s major cities, produced in full color, sepia (brown), and even blue tones.

These early souvenirs were produced in 2- by 4-inch Carte de visite size, then 4- by 6 1/2-inch cabinet size and later stereoscope sets. There was an abundance of this material made in America and Europe preceding the postcard, including illustrated letter sheets, Valentines, and New Year’s and Christmas greeting cards used during the 1840s and 1850s. During the Civil War (1861–1865), patriotic letterheads and envelopes were extensively used. This beginning of decorative items to be mailed led to the development of the picture postcard.

John P. Charlton, Philadelphia, obtained a copyright on a private postal card in 1861. He sold his copyright to H.L. Lipman of Philadelphia, who produced and sold the Lipman’s Postal Card. It was a non-pictorial message card with a stamp box and address line on one side and a blank message space on the other, used by advertisers to print messages and illustrations. These cards were used until 1873, when the United States issued the government postal.

These government postal cards, issued from 1873 to 1898, are in the PIONEER ERA. Most Pioneer cards in today’s collections begin with the cards placed on sale at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois, on May 1, 1893. These were illustrations on government-printed postal cards and privately printed souvenir cards. The government postal cards had the printed 1¢ stamp, while the souvenir cards required a 2¢ adhesive postage stamp.

In 1898, Congress provided privately published postcards the same standards and rates as government postals. Postage required was now a 1¢ stamp. These postcards were inscribed Private Mailing Card—Authorized by the Act of Congress, May 19, 1898. This is the PRIVATE MAILING CARD ERA, and it lasted until 1901. The establishment of the Rural Free Delivery system in 1898 made the postcard a universal tool. Many American printers began to take postcards seriously. Elgin’s first postcard series, several views printed on the front of each postcard (known as multi-views), was produced during the era.

From 1898 to 1918, a phenomenon called the Golden Age of Postcards emerged. Both adults and children were obsessed with buying, sending, and collecting postcards. In 1908, the United States population was 89 million, and 678 million postcards were mailed. There were even postcard collection clubs. Few had telephones or automobiles, and many people received mail two and sometimes three times a day. This explains why we see many messages asking a friend over for afternoon tea.

Postcard publishers worked feverishly meeting the demand. Postcards were sold in drugstores, newsstands, dime stores, souvenir shops, and even postcard shops. Sold by the thousands, postcards still exist in great quantity despite their age.

On December 24, 1901, the United States Government granted private printers the right to use the words POST CARD. The back of the postcard was exclusively for the address and therefore was undivided. The UNDIVIDED BACK ERA lasted until 1907. Many postcards were designed with the message space on the front of the card, or the message was written upon the image.

Postcards with a divided back, as we know them today, were permitted beginning March 1, 1907. This allowed one-half for the message, the other for the address, with the entire front of the card to be used for the image. Before this time, no message could be written on the address side. Up to this point most postcards were printed in Germany, which was far ahead of this country in lithography. After World War I began, postcards had to come from England and the United States, which generally produced an inferior product. This DIVIDED BACK ERA ended in 1914.

To save ink, a border was left around the view on the front of the postcard creating a white border, therefore the next era from 1915 to 1930 is called the WHITE BORDER ERA. The high cost of labor, inexperience, and public tastes caused production of poor quality cards. Cars and telephones became more prevalent and allowed quicker communication with less reliance upon postcards to convey messages.

The LINEN ERA lasted from 1930 to 1944, and is named for the new printing processes that allowed printing on postcards with high rag content that caused a linen-like finish. Linens have a shadowless airbrushed appearance with a cheap look due to gaudy dyes used for the coloring.

The CHROME ERA extends from 1945 to the present. Today we call any modern glossy-surfaced card a chrome, which originated with Kodak’s Kodachrome film. Chromes were the first color postcards produced from color film and printed with the halftone process. During this era, postcards began to deviate from the standard 3 1/2 by 5 1/2 inch size to the Continental size of 4 1/8 by 5 7/8 inches.

Elgin, Illinois—Wish You Were Here shows new and used postcard images from the 1870s to the present. Most are considered view cards, which realistically portray a place, structure, thing, event, or person. Postcards selected are both lithographed, or printed, as well as real photo postcards, which have a photographic view printed on photosensitive paper with a postcard back. All postcards are reproduced as black-and-white, despite the fact that most were printed in color, satisfying the public’s desire.

Many large postcard companies sent photographers to Elgin; however, we had several local photographers who produced high-quality postcards in small quantities. Many have survived, though no one knows the quantity or range of subject matter.

Many avid postcard collectors