Arts & Entertainment
Vintage Postcards of Thanksgivings Past: 1900-1914
It was very common for Americans 100 years ago to send Thanksgiving greeting to friends and relatives with a penny postcard.
From 1900-1920, the golden age of the postcard, Americans sent hundreds of millions of postcards to friends and relatives. The postage was only one cent, and most cards could be purchased for only a nickel or a dime apiece.
Postcard artists such as John Winsch, Ellen Clapsaddle, and Raphael Tuck were among the most popular designers of their times and remain the most prized for collectors today. Some of these cards--depending upon condition--can sell for between $10 and $25 each today.
Interestingly, one of the Winsch-designed postcards in the gallery shows American Indians with turkey and a pumpkin. The Wampanog Indians who helped the Pilgrims celebrate a day of Thanksgiving in 1621 actually had a long history of an annual day of thanksgiving within their own culture, as did the English settlers.
