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Postcards

Owning Institution: San Diego Public Library

About this Collection

The San Diego Public Library has a large Postcard Collection, over 5,000 Postcards from California. These Postcards were donated by Norma McCumber and Florence Wilson and collected by library staff over the years. These select few were chosen as highlights to our collection and to illustrate the changes in the City of San Diego.

San Diego has always been America’s Finest City. This Collection of postcards gives a glimpse into treasures from San Diego’s past. There are Post Cards from the 1915 Panama California Exhibition, cards that depict the rolling hills of Mission Valley and cards that show original Military bases that predate Camp Pendleton and Miramar Air Base.

In the past postcards were the original Social Network. It was the easiest way to share images and quick thoughts. Personal cameras were not abundant and many people collected postcards in order to picture their travels and homes. Now these collections serve as not only as a way to understand how people have communicated throughout time but to provide a glimpse of how San Diego has changed an adapted over time.
View this collection on the contributor's website.

View our statement on digital primary resources and historical description.

Type of Item

808 items found in this collection

of 34
of 34