Georgia postcard collection

Collection — Box: 1, Object: 1-80

Collection number: MSS-023

Scope and Contents

The majority of the postcards in this collection were separated from the Athens Vertical Files maintained in the Heritage Room. Additional postcards came to the collection via purchase or donation. A significant number of the postcards were published by the Asheville Post Card Co. based in North Carolina. The list below notes which company was responsible for each postcard, marked by its item number (found in the container list below).

Asheville Post Card Co.: 1-3, 5-6, 8, 13, 18, 22, 24, 26-27, 29-30, 33, 35-36, 38-39, 42, 44, 46-47, 49, 52-53, 56-60, 62, 68-70, 72-73, 80.

Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation: 63, 66-67.

Beth’s Bylines (Athens): 14, 74.

C. T. American Art: 10.

Dixie News (Savannah): 78.

Gaston Photo Service (Atlanta): 11-12, 25, 34, 37, 41, 43.

Heritage Papers (Athens): 51, 54.

Imperial Post Card Company (Atlanta): 19.

Kenneth Kay’s Studio (Athens): 4.

E. C. Kropp Co. (Milwaukee): 15-16, 64, 75.

Nationwide Post Card Co. (Arlington, Tex.): 79.

Martin Reese Companies (Lawrenceville, Ga.): 81.

Rem Studio (Athens)/Dexter Press (West Nyack, N.Y.): 28, 55, 71.

Mike Roberts (Asheville): 65.

R. & R. News Co. (Atlanta): 82-87.

Thornton Bros. Paper Company (Athens): 9, 61.

Tichnor Bros. Inc. (Boston)/Northeast Ga. Cigar & Candy Co. (Athens): 7, 17, 20-21, 23, 31-32, 45, 48.

Whitaker & Garrett Inc. (Gainesville, Ga.): 77.

Bob Wyer Photo Cards (Delhi, N.Y.): 40.

No publisher named: 50, 76.

Dates

ca. 1930-ca. 2000

Language of Materials

English

Conditions Governing Access

This collection has no restrictions. This collection is open to the public. Library policy on photography and photocopying will apply. Advance notice may be required. Apply in the Heritage Room for access.

Biographical / Historical

The postcards depict a variety of buildings and scenes in downtown Athens and on the University of Georgia campus, as well as a few other spots in Athens and the state of Georgia. While most of the buildings shown are still extant, some have been renovated or had additions made, often spoiling the aesthetics of the architecture. These postcards thus serve as reminders of the original designs. Examples include St. Mary’s Hospital and the University of Georgia Coliseum. Also of historical interest is a postcard showing the original location of St. Mary’s Hospital (on Milledge Avenue, demolished in the 1960s) and a postcard bearing an illustration of the historic home of E. K. Lumpkin where she and others established the Ladies Garden Club and that was later made part of Young Harris Memorial United Methodist Church. Only one location among these postcards has not been identified: the depiction of an outdoor amphitheater on the University campus.

Extent

1.10 Linear Feet (One box measuring 12 by 13.25 by 2.5.)

Additional Description

Overview

Postcards depicting buildings and scenes in Athens and other Georgian communities.

Arrangement

The collection is organized in a single series. The postcards are held in plastic sheets in an archival box with a three-ring binding mechanism. The postcards are ordered in such a way that the user, when flipping through the sheets, goes on a virtual tour of the city starting from downtown, traveling southward through the university campus, and then going in a northwestward direction to other areas of the city, including historic homes and the famed Tree That Owns Itself, and ending close to where the tour began with the University of Georgia President’s House on Prince Avenue. Six postcards depicting locations beyond Athens are placed at the end of the collection.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Heritage Room Vertical Files; Angela Stanley; unknown

Related Materials

Copies of Gary Doster’s book, A Postcard History of Athens, Georgia, are included in the Heritage Room and in the Gary L. Doster papers (MSS 044).

Separated Materials

A photograph of the Double Barrelled Cannon, noted in hand on the back, “Photo by David C. Walker 1962,” was originally included in the collection. It has been removed, though its final location has not been decided. Please ask Heritage Room staff for assistance.