I Live Here

 With the introduction of the Brownie camera, photography was easy for any amateur photographer.  One popular subject was where one lived.  The tradition is still alive and well.  Even in the digital age, people are snapping pics of their houses.

 In the early 1900’s, traveling photographers would move from town to town with offers to photograph homes, residents, pets or any other subject people wanted to preserve in a photograph.  Many of these images were made into postcards that could be mailed or shared with other family members.

 One such example is a photo postcard made by Moore & Nutter Photographers from Salina, Kansas in 1908.  This image is of a home in Assaaria, Kansas and was sent from Kansas to Missouri.  X and O on the front of the card identify the study and bathroom on the south side.

 Sometimes builders used home images to advertise new home construction or offer their services.  Here are 3 very different examples.

 1. A war-born one-bedroom “Pre-Fab” home in Richland, Washington.  Card advertises they are designed to provide living quarters for 20,000 new residents along with room for up to 6,000 automobile trailers in the camp.

 2. ARMCO-FERRO Porcelain Enamel Frameless Steel House, The Mayflower House, offered at the 1934 Century of Progress World’s Fair in Chicago.  Made with porcelain enamel steel walls, it never needs paint.

 3.  T.F. Brady, Builder and Owner of this house in Portland, Oregon, (seen to the right) created real photo postcards to promote his construction business.

 More often, postcards and photos were taken of famous peoples houses.  It is easy to find postcards of presidential homes, movie stars and prominent individuals from a location.  Here is one that you don’t find often, a generic looking home that happens to be the home of Jane Jayroe, Miss America 1967 from Laverne, Oklahoma.

 Architecture is another reason homes were photographed.  Popular architects like Frank Lloyd Wright had many postcards made of his homes over the years.  Some homes just have interesting features and attract one’s eyes, for example the residence of O.H.P. Belmont in Newport, RI.  (See photo above.) Designed by gilded age architect, Richard  Morris Hunt, this summer home called Belcourt is being restored by its current owners.

 And of course, one might look for postcards from homes in your home town or local area.  Someone named Albert sent a photo postcard to Cora Gay in Golden, “…a glimpse of our cosy little house,” and mailed from Evergreen.

 Maybe you know this house, a country residence in Longmont, Colorado, published by Worley Book Store.

 I have found postcards with my house in them!  You can find your own treasures at the Denver Postcard & Paper Show.   We will have a full ballroom of dealers offering postcards, photographs, posters, artwork, travel and much more.  Held  Friday and Saturday, January 17-18, 2025 at the Holiday Inn Lakewood.  See advertisement on page 1 and 5 for hours or email the show promoter at camobley @ephemeranet.com or www.denverpostcardshow.com.