The German American Heritage Center presents “A Happy Invention: The History & Significance of the Picture Postcard" -- June 6.
Sunday, June 6, 2 p.m.
Presented by the German American Heritage Center
A frequently used but rarely studied mode of correspondence will be explored in a fascinating new virtual program hosted by the German American Heritage Center, when presenter Katherine Hamilton-Smith, on June 6, invites viewers to examine A Happy Invention: The History & Significance of the Picture Postcard, a lavishly illustrated PowerPoint with special emphasis on German native and American publisher Curt Otto Teich.
The first picture postcards were published for the 1889 Paris Exposition, celebrating the completion of the Eiffel Tower. In America, the first picture postcards were printed for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, making Illinois the birthplace of the American picture postcard. Since those flowery Victorian originals, uncountable billions of postcards of every aspect of life have been printed, depicting train stations and bandstands, street views and cartoons, ads for products and services, beauties and freaks, social history both whimsical and dark, and everything in between. An early mention of postcards is found in the late-19th-century diary of a Welsh curate, who called them ”a happy invention.”
In 2016, the world’s largest public collection of postcards and related materials, the Curt Teich Postcard Archives, was given to the Newberry Library by the Lake County Forest Preserve District. In her program for the German American Heritage Center, Katherine Hamilton-Smith presents a look at the documentary power and significance of picture postcards. She'll also touch on the Curt Teich Company of Chicago, the role Illinois played in the history and development of postcards, and on the picture postcard as a cultural icon.
Hamilton-Smith is Director of Public Affairs and Development for the Lake County Forest Preserve District in Chicago’s north suburbs. She has maintained career-long professional activity in archives and museums, including service on the Illinois Historic Sites Advisory Council, the Illinois State Archives Advisory Board, the Visual Materials Section of the Society of American Archivists, the Society for Commercial Archaeology, and the David Adler Art Center. A recipient of the Curator of the Year Award for the State of Illinois. Hamilton-Smith studied art history and music history at St. Andrews University in Scotland, and holds a BA in art history from the University of Nebraska and an AM in art history from the University of Chicago. She was also responsible for creating and developing the Curt Teich Postcard Archives for the Forest Preserve District.
The virtual program A Happy Invention: The History & Significance of the Picture Postcard will be presented at 2 p.m. on June 6, a Q&A session will follow the 50-minute presentation, and donations to the free event are greatly appreciated. For more information, call (563)322-8844 and visit GAHC.org.
