PHOTO: The Lodge at Jackson’s Camp on Cobbosseecontee is one of the postcards that will be featured in the Sept. 15 Winthrop Historical Society talk. (Submitted photo)
WINTHROP — Kevin Johnson, photo archivist for the Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport, will present “Winthrop Maine: The Postcard View; Selections from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Company,” hosted by the Winthrop Maine Historical Society, at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 9.
The presentation will be in the historical society’s new headquarters, the Winthrop History and Heritage Center, at 107 Main St., and will also be presented on Zoom at networkmaine.zoom.us/j/81096636540, meeting ID: 810 9663 6540.
Johnson’s slide show and talk will feature the story of the postcard company, as well as historic views of Winthrop and neighboring towns.
The Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Company was founded in 1909 in Belfast by Rudolph Herman Cassens. Cassens’ goal was to photograph small towns and rural areas from Maine to California, producing “real photo” postcards to promote tourism. Cassens did not fulfill his dream of photographing the entire country, but his company did produce more than 50,000 glass plate negatives of New England and upstate New York between 1909 and 1947. The collection is now part of the archives of the Penobscot Marine Museum and continues to grow as more negatives that “escaped” from the collection are located and acquired.
Contact Nick at nperry@baileylibrary.org for more information.