Scenic Views, Civic Pride, and Silly Gags: Edward H. Mitchell Postcards at The Bancroft Library

We all feel our wings are clipped this holiday season, but you can enjoy a tour around turn-of-the-century California, journey up the Pacific Coast, around the American West, or even visit Hawaii and the Philippines, thanks to newly published content on the Berkeley Library’s Digital Collections site.

Over 10,000 postcards issued by San Francisco publisher Edward H. Mitchell, circa 1898-1920, are now online. This nearly-comprehensive collection was compiled over many decades by Walt Kransky, who generously donated it to The Bancroft Library. Walt’s website has been the go-to site for collectors interested in Mitchell cards; there he compiled a checklist of all known Mitchell postcards, whether he owned examples or not. And he did own the vast majority!

Color postcard, circa 1905, of the exterior of a Victorian hotel on the floor of Yosemite Valley, among evergreen trees — *Sentinel Hotel, Yosemite Valley, California*

Color postcard of well-dressed crowds on the beach at Long Beach, with pier in background, circa 1905 — *Beach and Sun Pavilion, Long Beach, California*

Must-see tourist sites from Yosemite to Southern California beaches and the mountains and forests of the Northwest are in abundance, but so are local industries, agriculture, and countless examples of small town pride.

Color postcard, circa 1900, of a Southern California ostrich farm and feather factory. — *Feather Factory, Cawston Ostrich Farm, South Pasadena, California.*

Color postcard of a factory wth workers and many dead salmon to be canned. — *Interior of a Salmon Cannery, Bellingham, Washington*

Color postcard, circa 1905, of a hayfield and three large barns in the distance, near Hollister, California — *Largest Hay Warehouses in the World, Hollister, California*

There is quite a range of court houses, schools, asylums, and even irrigation works on view.

Color postcard, circa 1900-1910, of courhouse building exterior — *Placer County Court House, Auburn, Cal.*

Color postcard, circa 1905, of a Spanish Mission Style high school in Watsonville, California — *High School, Watsonville, California*

Black and white photographic postcard of a concrete irrigation canal in a flat and treeless landscape near Patterson, California — *Irrigation canal – Patterson, Cal. (a “real photo postcard”)*

Period humor, for better or worse, is a recurring feature.

Color postcard, circa 1905, of the Alameda County Jail with humorous text printed in upper left, suggestive of a hotel advertisement — *Alameda County Jail, Oakland, California. (words added — Barnet Hotel)*

Humorous color postcard, circa 1905, of an enormous watermelon that fills and entire flatbed railroad car — *A California Watermelon*

Color cartoon postcard with a giant sequoia tree at left and a giant beet (vegetable) at right with two "beat cops" asleep on it, making a pun about beets and beat cops — *San Francisco. There are Big Trees in California. Also big vegetables. I saw two policemen asleep on one beat*

In addition to great images, Kransky’s Mitchell collection provides insight into the business of early postcard production. This was a new form when 1898 “Private Mailing Cards” were first issued as “authorized by act of Congress.”

Front (picture side) of a color postcard, circa 1898, of large Victorian resort hotel, with writing around the sides of the image — *Hotel Del Monte, Monterey County, Cal. (front of postcard)*

Back side, for address only, of early postcard with "Private Mailing Card" text and reference to 1898 act of Congress authorizing postcards — *(Back of postcard referencing 1898 Act of Congress:) Hotel Del Monte, Monterey County, Cal.*

Walt Kransky arranged his collection by back type and imprint style and he collected duplicates of given images in all their various styles of presentation. This variety, all from a single publisher, offers great opportunity for scholarship and close studies of visual culture early in the 20th century.

So, whatever your interest, make a cup of cocoa and enjoy an armchair tour, courtesy the Walter Robert and Gail Lynn Kransky collection of Edward H. Mitchell postcards at The Bancroft Library!

Color postcard, in red and green, of poinettia blossoms and leaves — Poinsettia Blossoms

Many Library staff collaborated to bring this collection online. Bancroft curatorial and acquisitions staff worked with the donor to preserve this collection at Berkeley, and hundreds of hours of work on descriptive data and inventory alignment were carried out in Bancroft Technical Services’ Pictorial Unit. Library Imaging Services created the thousands of high resolution scans, and the descriptions and images were linked together and brought online through the efforts of Library IT. Most importantly, thanks are due to Walt and Gail Kransky for their generosity, his decades of collecting, and the years of expertise he committed to documenting his collection.