Most people may have received a postcard at some point in their life but may not realize that for many years postcards were the most popular means of communicating other than talking. At the height of their popularity in 1908, more than 677 million postcards were mailed in a single year, an average of seven postcards for every man, woman, and child in the country.
On Thursday, November 21, 2013, the Marion County Historical Society will host local historian and author Randy Winland who will share not only the history of the development and use of postcards but also the history of Marion as seen through them. The program will include an audio-visual presentation of some of the more than 1000 Marion postcards in Winland’s personal collection as well as ones from other Marion collectors. The focus will be on the different types of postcards that have been popular throughout the past 100 years with views of Marion used as examples. Also included in the program will be views of several Marion buildings which are no longer standing.
As part of the evening’s activities, Winland’s just-published book on the history of Marion as seen through postcards will be available for purchase for the first time. Part of the Arcadia Publishers series on local history, the soft-bound book features over 200 postcard images of scenes from around Marion. Many of the images, such as one of a cannon manufactured by the Marion Steam Shovel Company, have never been published and rarely seen.
Winland collaborated with several other Marion postcard collectors to obtain the images for the book which also contains narrative descriptions for each of the images. All proceeds and royalties from the sale of the book are being donated to the Marion County Historical Society for its historic preservation efforts.
The presentation, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 7:00pm in the Auditorium of Heritage Hall. Parking is available in the lot directly to the south of Heritage Hall on South State Street.
For more information on the program, or any activities of the Marion County Historical Society, call 740-387-4255.
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