Finding Aid of Grand Traverse Postcard Collection, Early to mid 20th century.

Finding Aid of Grand Traverse Postcard Collection, Early to mid 20th century.

Traverse City (Mich.)
Old Mission (Mich.)
Mapleton (Mich.)

This collection of postcards features Old Mission Peninsula, Traverse City, Michigan. Scenes indicative of the Peninsula, including cherry orchards, views of both East and West Grand Traverse Bay, and prominent structures such as the Old Mission Lighthouse, make up the bulk of these images. The bulk of the postcards date from the early to mid 20th century. Many were published by Orson W. Peck, Traverse City's legendary photographer and postcard creator.

Mary Morgan

Local History Collection, Peninsula Community Library, Traverse City (Mich.)

Peninsula Community Library, Traverse City, MI

The bulk of the postcards date from the early to mid 20th century.

Peninsula Community Library staff

Contents in this collection are protected by copyright law, but Peninsula Community Library permits these items to be reproduced, displayed or transmitted at the discretion of the user. Staff would appreciate being informed on how these resources are used.

Local History Collection, Peninsula Community Library, Traverse City (Mich.)

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English

Finding Aid

LHC006-findingaid.pdf

Grand Traverse County, Michigan

Peninsula Community Library
Local History Collections
Grand Traverse Postcard Collection, 1

LOCAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS
PENINSULA COMMUNITY LIBRARY
2893 Island View Road Traverse City, MI 49686

Creator: Peninsula Community Library
Title: Grand Traverse Postcard Collection
Inclusive dates: Early to mid 20th century
Bulk dates: Early to mid 20th century
Extent: ½ linear feet
Call number: LHC 006 Pcl

Language: Material is in English
Acquisition: Anonymous donation.
Accruals: Periodic additions to the collection are expected.
Access: The collection is open without restriction.
Photographs: See Binder LHC 006 Pcl Postcards
A-V Material: None.
Digital Material: Many of the digitized postcards can be found at
https://localhistory.tadl.org/
Copyright: Copyright is held by the Peninsula Community Library.
Copyright of the postcards is retained by creator.
Processed By: Mary Morgan, 2019

Peninsula Community Library
Local History Collections
Grand Traverse Postcard Collection, 2

Abstract
This collection of postcards features Old Mission Peninsula, Traverse City, Michigan.
Scenes indicative of the Peninsula, including cherry orchards, views of both East and
West Grand Traverse Bay, and prominent structures such as the Old Mission
Lighthouse, make up the bulk of these images. The bulk of the postcards date from the
early to mid 20th century. Many were published by Orson W. Peck, Traverse City's
legendary photographer and postcard creator.
History From the George and Sarie Beckett website <https://www.sariejayne.com/tcpostcards.com>; retrieved December 10, 2019.
"The Father of Traverse City Postcards" - Photography in northern Michigan came into
popularity in the late 1880's. Since then, Traverse City has had perhaps a dozen
commercial photographers who produced postcards of the local scene. For most of
them, postcards were a sideline to their regular photography business. For Orson Peck,
Traverse City's legendary photographer, postcard photography was a lifelong career.
Peck lived, slept and breathed postcards. Postcards were his life, his vocation and
avocation.
Orson Peck was the guy who produced the famous postcard of a streetcar on Front
Street that fooled a whole generation of amateur Traverse City historians. So did his
other well-known photo of the "new" Pere Marguette Railroad station at the corner of
Lake and Union streets.
Of course, no streetcar ever made an appearance on Traverse City streets. And no
"new" Pere Marguette depot was ever built at that location. The photos are composites:
depot and streetcar were dubbed in. But (and here's the point) both streetcar and depot
had been "in the works," in the planning stage, for years. So Peck wasn't really trying to
fool anybody, he was just anticipating reality a little - depicting things he thought were
sure to come sooner or later. It wasn't his fault that they never did.
Scope and Content Note
The majority of the postcards in this collection were created by Orson Peck. Most of the
collection has handwriting and postal stamps affixed on the back of the cards. There
are approximately 65 cards in this collection.

Peninsula Community Library
Local History Collections
Grand Traverse Postcard Collection, 3

Container No.

Description

Photographs [series]:
Volume 1 Early to mid 20th century



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