KHS to present ‘Maine on Glass,’ a study in early 20th century postcards

AUGUSTA — Early 20th-century Maine is captured in the Kennebec Historial Society’s April presentation “Maine on Glass,” which features 190 postcard photos from the first half of the century and three of Maine’s foremost historians.

The presentation is 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 19, at the Maine State Library, 230 State St., and is free and open to the public.
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Postcards were the Instagrams of the early 20th century — on one day in September 1906, 200,000 postcards were mailed from Coney Island, for instance, said a news release from the historical society. In 1913 some 968,000,000 postcards were sent in the U.S., more than seven per person.

The majority of postcards made at the turn of the20th century were mass-produced lithograph or letterpress half-tones, but the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Company produced “real photo postcards” in the form of silver gelatin prints made by exposing the negative onto photo paper card stock and developing it in a traditional wet darkroom, the release said. Eastern was the largest U.S. manufacturer of what it called “genuine” photo postcards. Images selected were from 22,000 glass plate negatives created by the Eastern company between 1909 and World War II.

“As an archive of early 20th-century Maine architectural photography, the Eastern collection (now housed at the Penobscot Marine Museum) has no equal, and it gives us many unexpected glimpses of Maine life,” said the release. “Maine residents, expatriates, and visitors will enjoy hours of pleasure in this journey through Maine’s countryside, villages, and towns, guided by three historians who can bring a vista to life with a few well-chosen comments.”

Featured historians at the presentation are Kevin Johnson, Earle G. Shettleworth Jr. and Bill Bunting.