Postcards : The Rise and Fall of the World's First Social Network / Lydia Pyne.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Pyne, Lydia, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Postcards--History.

Postcards.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (233 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

London, England : Reaktion Books, [2021]

Summary:

A global exploration of postcards as artifacts at the intersection of history, science, technology, art, and culture.Postcards are usually associated with banal holiday pleasantries, but they are made possible by sophisticated industries and institutions, from printers to postal services. When they were invented, postcards established what is now taken for granted in modern times: the ability to send and receive messages around the world easily and inexpensively. Fundamentally they are about creating personal connections--links between people, places, and beliefs. Lydia Pyne examines postcards on a global scale, to understand them as artifacts that are at the intersection of history, science, technology, art, and culture. In doing so, she shows how postcards were the first global social network and also, here in the twenty-first century, how postcards are not yet extinct.

Contents:

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Contents

Introduction: Invention and Reinvention

One: Signed, Stamped, and Delivered

Two: The Means of Mass Production

Three: Publicity and Propaganda

Four: Having a Wonderful Time, Wish You Were Here

Five: Postcards from Countries That No Longer Exist

Conclusion: The Afterlives of Postcards

References

Bibliography

Acknowledgments

Photo Acknowledgments

Index Generated by AI.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Part of the metadata in this record was created by AI, based on the text of the resource.

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781789144857

178914485X