Postcards provide rich historical context and also are full of history themselves! The history of postcards is well documented originating in their most recognizable state in 1880’s Germany. Postcard production serves as “artifacts of several national phenomena, including changes in printing technology, postal regulations, forms of communication, popular culture, and travel.” The height of postcards in the United States started around 1900 and, by 1909 some postcard manufacturers were producing over 3 million cards per day. Postcards often depict landmarks and special events. Though postcards fell from popularity as technology advanced the 1968 Shocking Blue song, “Send Me A Postcard,” relays the importance of receiving a short message.
Their popularity was not wholly won over as demonstrated by John Walker Harrington who wrote in his article for American Magazine, “Postal carditis and allied collecting manias are working havoc among the inhabitants of the United States.” Also Thorstein Veblen speculated that tourists traveled in order to be seen traveling and utilized goods and services for the same reasons. Through this understanding postcards act as a means to conspicuously consume both at home and while on vacation.
As source material this collection features postcards that serve several functions. Location based postcards work as an advertisement, personal documentation of travel, and documenting a short message from the sender. The Baja California and the West Postcard Collection hosted by the UCSD Digital Collections exemplifies the qualities of postcards and tourism in coastal California.