Postcards

During the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries sending and collecting postcards became a craze and Plainfield was a part of it. This “golden age” of postcards stemmed from a combination of social, economic, and governmental factors. Demand for postcards increased, government restrictions on production loosened, and technological advances in photography, printing, and mass production made the boom possible. In addition, the expansion of Rural Free Delivery allowed mail to be delivered to more American households than ever before. Billions of postcards were mailed during the golden age world-wide. Many postcards from this era were in fact never posted but directly acquired by collectors themselves. The Plainfield Historical Society is lucky to hold in its archives several dozen examples of postcards of some of Plainfield’s landmarks,  displayed below, along with a postcard album from the Clark/Rice family.  Click on each postcard to enlarge. To learn more about the history of postcards click here.