By Keva Hoffmann Boardman —

It used to be when you traveled, you would pick up postcards at all the locations you visited. Then you would either send them home to family and friends or keep them as a souvenir. Postcards were cheap, easy and extremely portable. The coming of the digital age has made the popularity of postcards shrink considerably. We no longer buy a card, address it, go find a post office, buy stamps and send a post card; although, in foreign countries, this process could and often did entail laughter and make memories in and of itself. Today, we use our phone to take a photo and “post” it on social media almost immediately letting friends and family in on our travels. I recently got a postcard from a friend in France that I had to pay postage on to receive — they had posted it without postage. Still, it was nice thought.

Looking through the postcard collection of the Sophienburg Museum and Archives, I began to see how today we are missing the personal nature of sending a postcard. Many cards in the collection had been chosen to either remember an event or location or to appeal to the one who received the card and message. They were little “hellos” from loved ones (like to or from a soldier in WWI), a reminder of love (to girl or boyfriends), a reassurance to parents as to one’s safety and prosperity, or an announcement of some personal benchmark (promotion, marriage or baby). I still can pick up books at home and find postcards I used as bookmarks, and I’m immediately taken back in time to remember a person or place.

These little 3 ½ by 5 ½ inch pieces of cardstock have a fairly long history. As early as the 1860s, postcards were printed by both private publishers and country postal systems. These were blank on one side for an “open” message and printed with a stamp on the other side which was also where the address was to be written. By the 1870s, the cost to send a postcard was one penny in the U.S.; that was half the amount of a letter in an envelope.

Illustrated postcards came along in the 1890s. These are mostly greyscale (black and white) line drawings, etchings or engravings of locations. Since the illustrations filled one side of the card, the other side was divided; the right half provided space for stamp and address and the left half had room for a short message. Sometimes there was a wider border on the illustration side that could be used to continue the message.

As people grew more and more mobile via first the railroads and then cars, and as they had more “free time” and spare cash, vacation travel cards became very popular. The 1890s saw an uptick in the thousands of cards printed and sold. Early photographers got into the trend and produced stunning black-and-white photographs of towns, country landscapes, ancient ruins and beaches, as well as iconic works of art and cultural rituals. The world was becoming smaller each time a postcard was, well, posted. They were also collected to place in albums as souvenirs of special holiday vacations.

Postcards from 1915 to the 1930s are mostly printed with a white border. These early color views were produced with colored ink on inexpensive cardstock. They have a white border around the image to save on ink. The illustration also usually has a caption. In the 1930s, postcards are printed on a higher quality paper with a linen-like texture and no white border. The ink colors, on both of these early 20th century postcards, are vivid and intense and sometimes unusual. The color photo postcards we are familiar with today began to show up at gas stations as souvenirs in the 1940s.

There is actually a name for postcard collectors — a deltiologist. Greek deltos (small tablet or letter) and logia (study of). This appellation was coined at Ohio State University in 1945. Prior to that, postcard enthusiasts were called philocartists, a name akin to stamp collectors, philatelists. It’s all Greek to me.

The Sophienburg Museum & Archives collects postcards because they are important in research. They depict specific times and scenes in New Braunfels history. They chronicle our cultural and social events. Postcards can be utilized to teach geography and writing skills to our children. But they are also beautiful and just plain fun.

Beginning in April, an exhibition at The Sophienburg will showcase many postcard images of New Braunfels and Comal County from the collection. I guarantee it will take you back in time in a visually stunning way.

FYI: Postcard collecting is the third largest collecting hobby, eclipsed only by stamp collecting and coin/banknote collecting.

Sources: Sophienburg postcard collection; Smithsonian Institution Archives – Postcards; The Postal Museum – Postcards.

“Around the Sophienburg” is published every other weekend in the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.

The post Posting memories appeared first on Sophies Shop.

Don’t know your early NB history? No excuses, people. There are many outstanding works of art and memorials you probably see every day just driving through our beautiful downtown. Pack up the kids or load up your Omie and Opie and take a mini field trip or two. Enjoy the summer weather and connect with your community’s past.

Start with a trip to the NB Civic Center on S. Seguin St. for a really good overview of New Braunfels’ beginnings. Out in front is a bronze of our city founder, Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels. Did you get that? Solms-BRAUNFELS. There. You know how we got our name. We are the only city in Texas founded by a Prince!

Walk up on the front porch and you will find an entire wall of metal plaques that lay out the basics of our town’s history. There are 20 etched metal “photos” of early NB sites and leaders and four rectangular metal etchings of the German immigrants’ journey from Indianola. It’s a lot to take in, but there is more.

Go around the left side of the building. You will pass a blue-tiled fountain that honors citizens who have been designated as “Legends”. These individuals have given countless hours to make our city better. Maybe one day your name will be etched into our history.

Continue to the back entrance and find a long polished grey granite marker in the flower bed. Check out the towns the immigrants passed through as they followed the Guadalupe River up from the coast. That trip took almost six weeks to walk. I just drove that route with a group of fellow citizens; it took us a day in an air-conditioned van. I can truthfully say that I would not have made it to NB. No apology.

Another concentration of art, architecture and memorials is found on our beloved Main Plaza. On the north side, find the rough pink granite rock with a plaque from the City’s 150th Anniversary; it has an outline of the changes made to the Plaza. Having been planned from day one to be the City Center, the Plaza is almost overflowing with information of our past.

And flowing in front of you is the Plaza Fountain, bought and installed in 1896, with funds from the City’s 50th Anniversary celebration. The fountain has not only survived time, it has survived being hit (and badly damaged) several times by drunk or speeding drivers. Did you know that the fountain has not always been black?

The Bandstand has been New Braunfels’ centerpiece since 1905. Just imagine that for over a century, singing and shooting society festivals, presidential and gubernatorial visits, community meetings, concerts and city anniversaries have been celebrated in its shadow. It has witnessed hundreds of 4th of July, Dies y Seis, Loyalty Day, Comal County Fair and Kinder Maskenball parades. Innumerable wagons, carts, bicycles, automobiles and trucks have circled around the octagonal red-roofed little building. Just stand in it and you are a part of that history!

Near the Bandstand is the “Friendship Tree” (Freundschaft Baum) dedicated to YOU, the citizens of New Braunfels. If you circle the Plaza, you will find four polished pink granite markers for the 150th Anniversary. Take some large sheets of paper and some crayons and make rubbings of the crests. Can you figure out what the symbols mean?

At the east end of Main Plaza are two memorials to Comal Countians who fought for our rights and freedoms in the Civil War and WWI. Note that the Civil War monument honors all men who died, both North and South. I like what that says about our town.

If you still haven’t had your fill of history, you can read the marker on our century-old, restored Comal County Courthouse. Take time to go inside and explore the exhibits and spaces of this unique and stately structure; believe me when I say there will be some fun surprises.

Cross Seguin St and grab a cup of coffee at Crosswalk in the former lobby of the Schmitz Hotel where you will walk on floors that knew the footsteps of Texas Rangers, Civil War officers and men, cotton merchants and so many more. I suggest you park yourself in a chair on the front porch. Take a little time to watch present day history happen right before your eyes and be thankful for the all the people who have made New Braunfels so wonderful.

FYI: Saturday, May 19th is FREE Museum Day from 1-4pm. Take advantage of this once a year freebie.

The post Look and Learn! Part 1 appeared first on Sophies Shop.