Selling (and Discovering) Portland Through Postcards

Picture postcards were first authorized in the United States in 1893 for the Chicago World Fair. Once post office rules and cheap lithography made picture postcards available for a low price, an explosion of visual imagery occurred throughout the country. Portland participated in this new media, including promotional images for the 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition as well as images of city streets and buildings. As new technologies made postcard making available to individuals, all kinds of special events appeared on postcards, from new houses to snow storms. And of course, businesses used the postcard for advertising too. Using postcards from the AHC’s Bill Wright Postcard Collection and from his own personal collection, Bosco-Milligan Foundation President Steve Dotterrer presents a visual smorgasbord of images of twentieth century Portland.

This image-filled talk is held in conjunction with our new exhibit Selling the Rose City: Portland Souvenirs and the Imagery of Place.

This lecture program is held at the Architectural Heritage Center - 701 SE Grand Avenue

Seating is Limited. Pre-Registration is Highly Recommended.

Parking is on-street (free on Saturdays) or in the parking lot on the west side of Grand Avenue between SE Yamhill and Belmont Streets - just to the north of the Urbanite. Do not use the lot where Dutch Bros. Coffee is located. Thank you to Bolliger and Sons Insurance for sharing their lot with us for our evening and Saturday education programs.

Image: Postcard view of residence street in northwest Portland, Architectural Heritage Center Collection.