Postcard America: Curt Teich and the Imaging of a Nation, 1931–1950

Abstract

In Postcard America Jeffrey L. Meikle provides an informative, ambitious, compelling account of the significance of the postcard for understanding early to mid-twentieth- century U.S. national imaginaries. Focusing on so-called linen postcards (the dominant aesthetic) issued by Curt Teich & Co. (the dominant purveyor) in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, Meikle demonstrates the capacity of such cards to map prevailing American investments, desires, and anxieties during the era and about that era in hindsight. He combines the perspectives of historians and collectors to generate fresh understandings of this most ubiquitous yet ephemeral type of mass-produced culture. The book features six chapters, with two embedded portfolios showcasing exemplary landscape and cityscape cards. The first three chapters distill postcard history and detail the technological and aesthetic innovations that made Curt Teich & Co. dominant in American postcard production. Chapters 4 and 5 outline the significance of landscape and cityscape as representational modes for mapping social and cultural spaces, while chapter 6 meditates retrospectively on postcard collection and interpretation as illuminated by selected postcard messages, giving welcome attention to questions of use in the critical literature on this cultural form. Grounded in historical expertise and collecting experience, the book crackles with passion and insight.