The exhibition was augmented by postcards of Philadelphia synagogues and Rosh Hashanah pop-up cards from the collection of the NMAJH. The first postcards were created in the 1860s. A private postal card was copyrighted on December 17, 1861 by John P. Charlton of Philadelphia. He was not successful, however, in obtaining a patent for his invention. The printer of this pioneering card, Hyman L. Lipman, was a Philadelphia Jew. Lipman acquired the copyright and circulated these early cards until 1873 when the first official governmental postal card was issued in the United States. An international postal treaty was signed on July 1, 1875 that officially allowed the mailing of postal cards internationally. New Year's Greetings, Williamsburg Post Card Co., New York, Printed in Germany, circa 1915. It reads in Yiddish, "We come with good tidings, Good times lie ahead, Light and beauty, good fortune and good cheer, A world renewed."
In 1889, private publishers in Germany began issuing postcard with attractive pictures on the front side. The popularity of these picture postcards increased steadily, and countless picture postcards were produced and mailed throughout the world during the "Golden Age of the Postcard," lasting from 1898 until 1918. European and American Jews participated fully in the "Postcard Craze." The colorful images that adorn these postcards afford a nostalgic view into a bygone world and provide the modern spectator with a rich and rare visualization of Jewish life at the turn-of-the-century.
