Page 13 - Demo

Vintage Postcards of Indiana Health FacilitiesAbout This CollectionThe idea for collecting postcards of Indiana%u2019s historic healthcare facilities began with a mistake made by Amazon.com. At the time, we were collecting postcards featuring Indiana%u2019s libraries, and had decided to purchase a specialized binder to display them. So, Lynn ordered one from a supplier she%u2019d dealt with before, who operated an on-line store through Amazon. When it arrived, it was the wrong color%u2014black. We returned it and requested a replacement in the correct huntergreen color. The second one soon arrived and was black, just like the one we%u2019d just sent back. When she returned that one, Lynn asked for a refund, then ordered the correct color from a dealer on eBay.com. A few days later, the album arrived from eBay%u2014in the correct color. Then two days after that, we were shipped another one in hunter-green from the original Amazon dealer. They said it was free, and meant to atone for the inconvenience we%u2019d gone through in having to return two albums. This was generous and we were most grateful, but now we had two albums, and needed only one. In wondering what to do with the extra album, Lynn suggested we start another postcard collection, and John agreed. After all, we were sure we could find something to peak our interest, but what would it be? We considered collecting postcards of hotels, or parks, or court houses, or train stations, or theaters, or opera houses, or something else that would be numerous and widespread throughout Indiana. Checking out multiple areas of interest on-line, we found some subjects were only represented by a few relatively pricey cards. Other collectors must have already sought them out. Then, Lynn suggested, %u201cwhat about hospitals?%u201d With that, we were off and running. Together, we decided to add clinics, and spas, and homes for the physically afflicted. The more we mulled it over, the more possibilities came to mind. To see what was available for sale, John checked out several internet sites that specialized in selling postcards, and found a relative bonanza. While there had to be collectors out there, there were still plenty of Indiana healthcare postcards for us to choose from. Plus, the prices were often quite reasonable. Immediately, John ordered a plethora of cards. The first one that arrived featured the massive, Victorian-style Home for Feeble Minded Youth in Fort Wayne. Soon, more fascinating cards started showing up in our mailbox. But that%u2019s not the end of our album story. Fairly early in our collecting of healthcare postcards, our library postcards outgrew their single binder, so we used the free hunter-green one we%u2019d received for a Volume 2. Then we decided to use a different color binder%u2014blue%u2014for the healthcare postcards. Actually, there were so many cards available, that Lynn ordered two blue ones. Thus, the original order for a single album eventually led to us requiring four. One reason there were so many healthcare postcards available was probably because, back in the later half of the 19th century, and early half of the 20th century, postcards were very popular, and local citizens often felt great pride in their community%u2019s buildings. As a result, many postcards of the era featured banks, libraries, churches, schools, and all manner of institutions%u2014including healthcare facilities. Beginning in the 1800s, with black-and-white or sepia-toned images, to color photos on linen-finished card stock in the 1930s and %u201840s, to glossy-finished modern photographs, hundreds of postcards were printed showing off local hospitals, homes, spas, sanitariums, etc. Today, some might consider this subject matter unpleasant, perhaps a bit creepy. But not us. This collection contains a wide variety of postcards displaying all types of healthcare institutions and