In the pre-digital era before cellphones, satellites, and the internet allowed travelers to instantly transmit their photos and comments to family and friends, Americans relied on “snail mail” and the picture postcard.
More than 200 examples of Kansas City postcards from the early to mid-1900s are featured in an encore presentation of the exhibit Greetings from Kansas City: Postcard Views of a Midwestern Metropolis, 1900-1950. Created in 2013 and originally displayed from January through June of that year, the exhibit earned the American Library Association’s 2014 Excellence in Library Programming Award.
The cards — featuring images of landmarks, hotels, parks, and public buildings — have been culled from the Mrs. Sam Ray postcard collection in the holdings of the Library’s Missouri Valley Special Collections.