Vintage Florida Postcard Show Florida's History

Postcards are not just greetings to a loved one when traveling on vacation; they also are considered treasured mementos of one's past. They evoke fond memories of younger years, when the pace was much slower and that special vacation was a well-deserved treat or family vacation - not an escape from reality.
Today, more than ever with the advent of technology, postcard sending may just be a lost art form, as is letter writing. Nowadays, people can text message their greetings, and it is not as much fun to spend time while on vacation browsing the countless wracks in souvenir shops for that perfect card, one that brings home and communicates to your friends and family the emotion, visual joy and fun that you have experienced while away.

Florida postcards have always been colorful and animated, yet there are some that are works of art, done by professional photographers that were artisans in their time. One such artist was a man named Barnhill. He was a photographer from the St. Petersburg area, who snapped beautiful old Florida scenery, and put his special brand on his work by tinting his photographs, thus postcards had the unique colorings that made his work stand out from the competition. Aside from tinting, Barnhill had an eye for capturing old Florida at its best, swaying palm trees, an old Florida river with the orange sunset as a backdrop, gorgeous ocean views and flora and fauna.

Aside from Barnhill, there are many other collectible old Florida postcards that are visually stimulating and historic as well. Postcards depicting Florida's old towns before industry, old lifestyles, such as farmers with mules before the advent of tractors, horses before cars, vintage automobiles, even race car events, predecessors to the Daytona 500 are collectible and interesting. Some even depict part of the Suwannee River that comes through Florida, a fact that some people may not have realized till glimpsing an old postcard. In this way a Florida postcard is not just visual, but educational in regard to Florida's history and legacy.

Many collectors look for old Floridian postcards for this reason alone. Collectors also like the way the cards look, the quality and texture is evident. I have some in my collection from as far back as 1913, and they look brand new. Heavy card stock, grainy surfaces and Barnhill tints made for glorious rich color and quality, that have lasted the generations.

Some people like the plain cards, but to find old writing on back tells a story, and to history seekers is a bonus. Many vintage cards from old Florida travels have interesting stories. I have one where a woman is traveling through the Miami Everglades, past Alligator Alley, a stretch along I-75 in south Florida, and she says on the back "this is exactly what Miami looks like". This was dated from the early 30s, and modern Miami is in no way just a stretch of aqua marine water and palm trees these days! There is also personal information, that makes one wonder about the previous owner and what their life used to be like. Whatever the reason, collecting old Florida postcards is more than just a hobby, its an adventure back in time!