Detroit: A Postcard Album

by Richard Bak

View evocative and historical images in postcards from the early days of Detroit.Postcard photographers traveled the length and breadth of the nation snapping photographs of busy street scenes, documenting local landmarks, and assembling crowds of neighborhood children only too happy to pose for a picture. These images, printed as postcards and sold in general stores across the country, survive as telling reminders of an important era in America's history.

128 pages, Paperback

First published October 7, 1998

About the author

RICHARD BAK is a Detroit-based journalist and the author of twenty-five books, including 'Henry and Edsel: The Creation of the Ford Empire' and 'Peach: Ty Cobb in His Time and Ours.' He has received three ForeWord magazine Book-of-the-Year awards, the Stuart D. and Vernice M. Gross Prize for Literature, and two Emmys for his work as writer and coproducer of "Stranded at the Corner," a feature-length documentary about the fight to save Detroit's Tiger Stadium.

Reviews

[Lenore Kuipers-Cummins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was meaningful to me; my dad grew up in Detroit, my grandparent's were there, and we lived in St. Clair Shores which was in the area. Every page mentioned a street or place that I had heard of, and sometimes gone to when I was younger (we left when I was 5). I loved this Detroit because the old buildings that had been built are beautiful...Art Deco and others. They don't make buildings like this anymore. Many of the old ones are long gone and have been demolished.
There are over 200 photographs, and I loved looking at them....stepping back in time. Detroit was known as a "world class metropolis" from 1900-1930. In 1910 there were 23 car manufacturers. The Detroit News Building was opened in 1916. (436,000 16-page newspapers printed an hour). The Pontchartrain. Hudson's. S.S. Kresge dime stores. The 2-mile long tunnel to get the large amount of traffic across the Detroit River; only underwater! The Fox Theater. The Detroit Tigers, Bob-Lo Island and Belle Isle.
I could go on and on, but if you have ever associated with Detroit, you will love this book.