My Favorite Postcards

413 East Columbia
San Augustine, TX  75972

San Augustine Public Library
Membership in the Texas State Library system assures large selection of books for county wide distribution.  Specializes in Texas history and provides  a quality collection of genealogical records.  Daily schedule includes literacy and reading programs for children and adults and guidance in the use of films,  VCR's and furnishing information by computer.

This postcard is postmarked in 2009 with a 28 cent polar bear stamp.

St. Gallen (Shown is the Abbey of Saint Gall)
Barock-Kathedrale (Baroque Cathedral)
erbaut 1755-1767, Innenrenovation 1962-1967
(Built in 1755-1767, 1962-1967 interior renovation)

postmarked in 2013 with five Switzerland stamps, one from the Swiss Alps Series and  four from the series of the 250th Anniversary of the BIrth of Jean Jacques Rousseau featuring coins.

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The Abbey of Saint Gall (German: Fürstabtei St. Gallen) is a Roman Catholic religious complex in the city of St. Gallen in present-day Switzerland.

Around 613 an Irish monk named Gallus established a hermitage on the site that would become the Abbey. He lived there until his death in 646.

Following Gallus' death, Charles Martel appointed Othmar as custodian of St Gall's relics. During the reign of Pepin the Short, in the 8th century, Othmar founded the Carolingian style Abbey of St. Gall, where arts, letters and sciences flourished. Several different dates are given for the foundation of the Abbey, including 719, 720, 747 and the middle of the 8th century. Under Abbot Waldo of Reichenau (740–814) copying of manuscripts was undertaken and a famous library was gathered.

 The library at the Abbey is one of the richest medieval libraries in the world. Since 1983 it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Milwaukee. Public Library and Museum

Raphael Tuck and Sons Post Card Series No 2175, "MIlwaukee"

the sender writes:
The largest building in Milwaukee as it has more "stories" than any other.

postmarked in 1906 with a one cent stamp

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The library opened on Oct. 3, 1898. It shared the building with the Milwaukee Public Museum until the museum completed its move to its own building in the mid-1960s.

It was designated a Milwaukee Landmark in 1969.

National Library of the Republic of Belarus.
Photo by I. Lukin.

postmarked in 2008 with a Belarus, 'yellow - penguins' stamp

the sender writes, 'Here is a view of the most strange and unusual building in Minsk - the new National Library. There is a gallery on the 11th floor where everyone can overview the city. And the monument near it shows Francisk Skorina - the man who printed the first book in the Belarusian language. He was well-known in the Middle Ages in Europe.'

Public Library and Fifth Ave., New York.

Public Library located on 5th Avenue and 42nd Street.  Covers two entire city blocks, is built entirely of marble and cost nine million dollars.  Opened for public use May 23, 1911, and contains over two million volumes and is said to be the most complete library in the country.

This is postmarked in 1930, one year after the stock market crash.

Public Library in Des Moines, Iowa - postmarked in 1908 with one cent Franklin stamp
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Brief history of postcards in the United States

John P. Charlton of Philadelphia patented the postcard in 1861, selling the rights to H. L. Lipman, whose postcards, complete with a decorated border, were labeled "Lipman's postal card." Nine years later, European countries were also producing postcards.
Initially, the United States government prohibited private companies from calling their cards “postcards,” so they were known as “souvenir cards.” Although, in 1901, this prohibition was rescinded, not until 1908 could people write on the address side of a postcard.
The first postcard in the United States was created in 1893 to advertise the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Shortly thereafter the United States government, via the United States Postal Service, allowed printers to publish a 1-cent postcard (the "Penny Postcard"). A correspondent's writing was allowed only on the front side of these cards.
Postcards, in the form of government postal cards and privately printed souvenir cards, became very popular as a result of the Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago in 1893, after postcards featuring buildings were distributed at the fair. In 1908, more than 677 million postcards were mailed.