Picturing Illinois : twentieth-century postcard art from Chicago to Cairo PDF
Preview Picturing Illinois : twentieth-century postcard art from Chicago to Cairo
Picturing ILLINOIS Twentieth–Century Postcard Art from Chicago to Cairo JOHN A. JAKLE AND KEITH A. SCULLE Picturing illinois Picturing illinois Twentieth-Century Postcard Art from Chicago to Cairo JOHN A. JAKLE AND KEITH A. SCULLE University of Illinois Press Urbana, Chicago, and Springfeld © 2012 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois All rights reserved c 5 4 3 2 1 ∞ This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Jakle, John A. Picturing Illinois : twentieth-century postcard art from Chicago to Cairo / John A. Jakle and Keith A. Sculle. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-252-03682-8 1. Postcards—Illinois—History—20th century. 2. Illinois—History—20th century—Pictorial works. 3. Chicago (Ill.)—History—20th century—Pictorial works. 4. City and town life—Illinois—History—20th century— Pictorial works. 5. Country life—Illinois—History—20th century— Pictorial works. I. Sculle, Keith A. II. Title. f542.j35 2012 977.30022'2—dc23 2012022890 For Cindy and Tracey contents Preface and Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 Part One Chicago and Its Suburbs: The Metropolis 23 Part twO Illinois beyond the Metropolis 115 Epilogue 185 Notes 191 Credits 199 Index 203 Preface and acknowledgments Some one hundred years ago, the lowly postcard prompted a true enthusiasm for popular visual art. Scenic postcards were mailed and col- lected annually quite literally by the hundreds of millions, thus coming to play a vital role in how Americans conceptualized their nation’s geog- raphy. Through postcard art, Americans learned what was important both in big cities such as Chicago and in small-town and rural locales be- yond. Postcards pictured the important aspects of local landscapes and places, especially buildings, streets, and parks. They taught how such things were best visualized. So also did they help to an- chor Americans in history. As often as not, what got pictured spoke to a sense of progress over time whereby life in the United States had only gotten better, at least in regard to things material. For many Americans, the consumption of postcard art became a form of self-congratulation. Postcards said: “I belong here.” “This is my place.” “This is my kind of place.” Well before 1900, when postcards’ popularity soared, Chicagoans had already come to think of their city, and by extension themselves, as some- thing largely apart from the remainder of the state of Illinois—almost a state in its own right. And for good reason: Chicago had become the economic capital of a vast Middle Western region that stretched from the High Plains and the Rocky
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