“Ripon a Century Ago:  Picture Post Cards of Ripon from the “Golden Age” of Post Cards, 1907-1917

October is Wisconsin Archives Month and the theme this year is Post Cards, especially picture post cards. The Ripon Historical Society has a rich collection of such post cards that not only provide pictures of our community in the past, but also illustrate something of the history of this unique form of human communication.

Post cards were introduced in the United States in 1861, usually as a small card with some decoration. The pre-stamped “Penny Post Card” was introduced by the Post Office in 1873.Illustrated post cards began to appear at about the same time as a means for sending short notes or souvenirs. They were also used as an advertising medium. Until 1907, however, the Post Office required that one side of the card be devoted entirely to the address so that any message had to be written on the illustrated side. As a result, card makers often left small areas in which messages or advertisements could be written. Two cards from the Historical Society’s collection are examples of these “undivided” cards.

Englebright Hotel in Ripon as an example of an undivided card used for advertising.  No date, but prior to 1907. No publisher noted.

Mill Pond Dam in Ripon as an example of an undivided card with space for a message on the picture side. Published in 1906 by Rotogroup of New York, N.Y.

In 1907 Congress legitimized the so called “divided” card that we know today with the address side divided to allow for a short message. This left the illustrated side untouched. By this time, post cards had become an immensely popular form of communication, with 677 million having been sent in the United States in 1908 at a time when the population of the country was less than 90 million. Post card collecting also became immensely popular.

The post card, then, was used primarily as a means of brief, casual, and inexpensive communication between family members and friends as well as between companies and customers. In some ways they resembled the email today. A card from our collection written (in pencil) in Ripon in early 1917 illustrates this.

Dear Fred,

We’ve received your card and were very glad to hear from you that you are well. we are about the same.  we just rec’d a card from the freight agent that the piano has come this morning. I will take the card over to (illegible name) now to have him do the rest. Be shure (sic) to go to call on Lieberstines. Mrs. Knoll gave me a  long visit yesterday. have a good time and I hope we will see you soon here.

 European countries, especially Germany, dominated illustrated post card production due to their capacity to print quality cards with bright colors. Colors at this time, of course, were added by hand before the print was produced. Many European card producers established subsidiaries in the U. S. that used imported technologies. The Mill Pond Dam post card above was printed by a German subsidiary in New York, as was the one below.  

 Main (Watson) St. Looking South, 1909, A. C. Bostelman and Co. New York

However, existing technologies allowed post cards using photographs to be published easily by almost anyone. The post cards in the Historical Society's collection from the period from 1907 to 1917 were mostly published in either Milwaukee or Chicago, but at least one was published privately and one by a druggist in Ripon.

The period between 1907 and 1917 is now seen as the “Golden Age” of post cards in the United States. The First World War brought an end to quality card production in Europe and the telephone soon provided a more popular means for rapid and casual communication. The “souvenir” card, however, illustrating tourist locations has remained popular as a means for travelers to communicate with friends and family at home and as a souvenir to recall a pleasant trip.

The Historical Society has an extensive collection of cards with pictures of our city, mostly from the 1907-17 “Golden Age.” The following cards are some examples of these which will give a sense of what our city was like a hundred years ago and some major landmarks that are now gone.

Hotel LeRoy, 1910, published by C. B. Henschel, Milwaukee;
Later the Davis Hotel and then the Mapes Hotel

Pond and Elevator in Ripon, 1911

Ripon Knitting Works, 1912

Ripon Roller Mills, 1909, labeled as "A real photo by H. Montgomery, Hartford, Wisconsin"

200 block Watson St. 1915, no publisher noted

Watson St. looking north, 1917

Watson St. looking south, no date

300 block Watson St. 1909, published by S.C. Kropp, Milwaukee

Mill Pond Dam, 1906, Rotgroup Co. New York, a company using German techniques

Ripon High School, 1912, S.C. Kropp of Milwaukee

Watson St. looking South 1909, A. C. Bosselman using German technology