Guide to the Ohio Postcards, 1898-1990s SPEC.RARE.0350 Finding aid prepared by David Mezick Ohio State University Libraries Special Collections
1858 Neil Avenue Columbus, OH, 43210
2025 June This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2025-07-16T09:36-0400 English Describing Archives: A Content Standard Ohio Postcards SPEC.RARE.0350 Ohio State University Libraries Special Collections 3.816 Cubic feet 1898-1990s Postcards are cards that are meant to be sent through the mail without an envelope, on which a message may be written. They increased in popularity in the United States in the early 20th century due to their low cost and the implementation of free home delivery of mail. The Ohio Postcards are a collection of approximately 1,400 postcards, dated 1898-1990s, with images of locations in Ohio, including cities, towns, buildings, landmarks, and natural features. (16) flat boxes; (1) 2.5" letter document box English University of Kentucky. Libraries Arrangement of Materials

The Ohio Postcards are arranged alphabetically by the name of the city, town, or other location in Ohio pictured on the postcard. Postcards with images of Cincinnati and Cleveland are also grouped into subcategories or by more specific locations, and the postcards for each city are arranged alphabetically by those subcategories or locations. Postcards from outside Ohio are found at the end of the collection.

 Acquisitions Information

Accession No. RARE.2025.0044: University of Kentucky Libraries, 2025 March

 Preferred Citation

[identification of item], Ohio Postcards, SPEC.RARE.0350, Rare Books and Manuscripts Library, Ohio State University

 Access to Materials

Materials in this collection are available for use, but may be used in the Thompson Library Special Collections reading room only.

 Use of Materials

Materials in this collection may be protected by copyright, and are made available for research and educational purposes. In general, the OSU Libraries do not own the copyright for materials from our collections and cannot grant copyright permissions for these materials. The user is responsible for making a final determination of copyright status. If copyright protection applies, permission must be obtained from the copyright holder to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exceptions to the law. Works in the public domain are not protected by copyright and do not require permission to use.

 Processing Information

Processed by: ATS student employees, 2025 June; Finding aid written by: David Mezick, 2025 June

 Historical Note

Postcards are cards that are meant to be sent through the mail without an envelope, on which a message may be written. More specifically in the United States, postcards are privately printed and sold cards that require a stamp to be mailed, as opposed to postal cards, which are issued by the U.S. Postal Service with postage already included. Privately printed postcards were produced in the U.S. as early as 1861, and the first souvenir picture postcards were sold at the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. Postcards increased in popularity in the U.S. after 1898 when Congress allowed privately printed postcards to be sent at the same rate as government issued postal cards. Their popularity also increased due to the implementation of free home delivery of mail in 1902. From this period onward, most publishers created postcards with images on the front. In addition to being a cheap and convenient way to send messages, postcards became popular with collectors.

 Scope and Contents

The Ohio Postcards are a collection of approximately 1,400 total postcards with images of locations in Ohio. The locations pictured include cities, towns, buildings, landmarks, and natural features, and each location is represented by a varying number of postcards. The postcards were printed by various publishers from 1898-1990s. Included are the following types of postcards: divided back, white border, linen, photochrome, real photograph, and some private mailing cards.

 Custodial History Note

The postcards in this collection were originally part of the University of Kentucky Libraries Postcard Collection. The collection was started in 1933 by Margaret Helmsing Tuttle (1895-1988), department librarian at the University of Kentucky from 1926-1963. The University of Kentucky postcard collection, including what has been donated to the Ohio State University Libraries Rare Books and Manuscripts Library, was originally assembled primarily via donations to the University of Kentucky Libraries from individuals.

 Buildings--Ohio--20th century Cities and towns--Ohio--20th century Ohio--Pictorial works--20th century Picture postcards Postcards--Ohio--20th century Adams County 1 1 after 1903-1944 Akron 1 2 1907-1958 Alliance 1 3 1915 Ash Cave 1 4 1945-1990s Ashland 1 5 1915-1930 Ashley 1 6 1930 Ashtabula 1 7 1910 Athens 1 8 after 1903-1932 Barberton 1 9 1917 Basil 1 10 1908 Bellefontaine 1 11 1910-1945 Bethel 1 12 1935 Bexley 1 13 1958 Bluffton 1 14 1915-1930 Bowling Green 2 1 1960 Bryan 2 2 1937-1946 Buckeye Lake 2 3 1908-1929 Cadiz 2 4 1915-1946 Cambridge 2 5 1930-1990s Camp Perry 2 6 1907-1938 Canton 2 7 1907-1990s Carrollton 2 8 1915-1930 Castalia 2 9 1910-1935 Catawba Island 2 10 1940 Cedar Point 2 11 1902-1942 Celina 2 12 1915-1930 Chautauqua 2 13 after 1903-1951 Chillicothe 2 14 1902-1990s Cincinnati 17 1 3 1 1902-1948 Cincinnati: Airport 3 2 1940-1990s Cincinnati: Art Museum 17 2 3 3 after 1903-1984 Cincinnati: Buildings 3 4 1902-1990s Cincinnati: Churches 4 1 after 1903-1910 Cincinnati: Coney Island 4 2 1902-1945 Cincinnati: Eden Park Conservatory 4 3 1910-1990s Cincinnati: Fernbank Dam 4 4 1902-1914 Cincinnati: Fountain Square 4 5 1902-1953 Cincinnati: Hospitals 4 6 after 1903-1956 Cincinnati: Hotels 4 7 5 1 after 1903-1990s Cincinnati: Inclines 5 2 1906-1945 Cincinnati: Museum of Natural History 5 3 1945-1990s Cincinnati: Parks 5 4 after 1903-1970s Cincinnati: Restaurants 6 1 1911-1944 Cincinnati: River Scenes 6 2 1908-1990s Cincinnati: Rockwood Pottery 6 3 after 1903-1930 Cincinnati: Schools 6 4 1907-1942 Cincinnati: Skylines and Bridges 6 5 1902-1990s Cincinnati: Taft Museum 6 6 after 1903-1933 Cincinnati: Terminal 7 1 1904-1955 Cincinnati: University of Cincinnati 7 2 1902-1990s Cincinnati: Zoological Gardens 7 3 1902-1975 Circleville 7 4 1907-1957 Clairsville 7 5 1907-1914 Cleveland 7 6 17 3 1907-1964 Cleveland: Airport 8 1 1915-1938 Cleveland: Buildings 8 2 1902-1952 Cleveland: Churches 8 3 1909-1951 Cleveland: Great Lakes Exposition 8 4 1911-1947 Cleveland: Hotels 8 5 1915-1990s Cleveland: Museum of Art 8 6 after 1903-1952 Cleveland: Parks 9 1 1907-1940 Cleveland: Public Square and Streets 9 2 1907-1946 Columbus 17 4 9 3 1902-1990s Conneaut 10 1 1907 Coshocton 10 2 1908-1990s Cuyahoga Falls 10 3 1907-1938 Dayton 10 4 1902-1958 Defiance 10 5 1940 Delaware 10 6 1907-1939 Elyria 10 7 1911-1956 Fairfax 10 8 1960 Fairport Harbor 10 9 1907 Findlay 10 10 1946-1947 Fort Ancient 17 5 1926 Foster 10 11 1946 Fostoria 10 12 1938 Frankfort 10 13 after 1903-1914 Franklin 11 1 1957 Fremont 11 2 1945-1990s Gallipolis 11 3 1915-1943 Gambier 11 4 1905-1908 Gates Mills 11 5 1908 Georgetown 11 6 1915-1930 Gibsonburg 11 7 1915-1930 Granville 11 8 1907-1946 Greenville 11 9 1907-1944 Hamilton 11 10 1908-1945 Harrison 11 11 1907-1914 Hicksville 11 12 1902-1940 Hillsboro 11 13 1915-1960 Huron 11 14 1939 Indian Lake 11 15 1938-1955 Ironton 11 16 1906-1940 Jackson 11 17 1908 Johnson's Island 11 18 1902-1907 Kingston 11 19 after 1903-1930 Kelley's Island 12 1 after 1903-1944 Kent 12 2 1906-1990 Kenton 12 3 1947 Lake Erie 12 4 1907-1947 Lakeside 12 5 1907-1950 Lakewood 12 6 1915-1946 Lancaster 12 7 1906-1949 Lebanon 12 8 1906-1990s Lima 12 9 1907-1944 Lisbon 12 10 1910-1930 Logan 12 11 1938-1947 Lorain 12 12 1906-1944 Loveland 13 1 after 1903 Macon 13 2 1911 Magnetic Springs 13 3 1911 Manchester 13 4 1907-1914 Mansfield 13 5 1938-1990s Marblehead 13 6 1940 Mariemont 13 7 1915-1938 Marietta 13 8 1898-1987 Marion 13 9 1909-1930 Martins Ferry 13 10 1941 Marysville 13 11 1907-1908 Massillon 13 12 1915-1951 Miamisburg 13 13 1915-1930 Mitiwanga 13 14 1915-1930 Mount Vernon 13 15 after 1903-1946 Muskingum River 13 16 1915-1930 New Concord 13 17 1915-1930 New Philadelphia 13 18 1945-1990s New Rumley 13 19 1945 Niles 13 20 1947 North Bend 13 21 1907-1914 Norwalk 13 22 1907-1930 Norwich 13 23 1952 Oberlin 17 6 14 1 1907-1990s Ohio River 17 7 14 2 1915-1956 Oxford 14 3 1915-1959 Painesville 14 4 1915-1939 Peebles 14 5 1915-1943 Perrysburg 14 6 1928 Port Clinton 14 7 1921-1956 Portsmouth 17 8 14 8 1902-1990s Put-in-Bay 14 9 1905-1990s Ripley 15 1 1906-1913 Roads 15 2 17 9 1920s-1961 Rock Creek 15 3 1962 Rocky River 15 4 1933-1939 Russells Point 15 5 1944-1961 Salem 15 6 1960 Sandusky 15 7 1915-1990s Shelby 15 8 1902-1907 Springfield 15 9 1902-1954 St. Clairsville 15 10 1907-1914 St. Henry 15 11 1911 St. Marys 15 12 1908-1953 Steubenville 15 13 1945 Strongsville 15 14 1930-1944 Terrace Park 15 15 1911-1942 Tiffin 15 16 1915-1944 Toledo 15 17 1907-1966 Toronto 15 18 after 1907 Troy 15 19 1947 Upper Sandusky 15 20 1945-1990s Van Wert 16 1 1915-1952 Vermillion 16 2 1915-1930 Wadsworth 16 3 1940 Wapakoneta 16 4 1915-1944 Warren 16 5 1907-1944 Washington Court House 16 6 1915-1951 Wauseon 16 7 1907 Waynesville 16 8 1910 West Liberty 16 9 1943-1946 Westerville 16 10 1949 Wilmington 16 11 1909 Wooster 16 12 1907-1990 Worthington 16 13 1912 Youngstown 16 14 1909-1990s Zanesville 16 15 1905-1939 Outside Ohio 16 16 1908-1951