Post Cards Home Page

Decades of history preserved a few cents at a time!

Postcards, when combined with period area maps, are invaluable resources. They can reveal the evolution of tourist destinations in a way few books can. Publishers of both postcards and maps are always “in the moment”, supplying the most current information to the traveling masses as they visit parks and tourist destinations around the world. As the years and decades roll along, the once topical information becomes 10¢ “windows into the past”.

Tourists buy postcards for two primary reasons. First, they purchase them, fill them out while on the road, and mail the colorful cards to their friends and relatives. Inscriptions on many postcards include the lines, “Having a great time. Wish you were here!” Second, tourists purchase extra cards to document their own trip. They take them home and store them in a folder, scrapbook, or journal. Those postcards are often unused and beautifully intact. Years later, both genre of cards show up, giving them a second life for nostalgic collectors. The postcards unwittingly document ever so slight changes in the area they represent.

With its majestic mountains as a backdrop, Jackson Hole has always attracted tourists, artists, photographers, and poets. It’s only natural they would want to document their trips, and with that, many publishers catered to them with colorful postcards, books, guides, and pamphlets!

Four important dates

While viewing the various pages, linked below, it might be important to know these dates:

• 1872 : Yellowstone was established by an Act of Congress on March 1, 1872. It was the first (and still largest) National Park.
• 1929: Grand Teton National Park was established by an Act of Congress on Feb 26, 1929.
• 1943: A Jackson Hole National Monument proclamation combined Teton National Forest lands with other federal acres, plus Jackson Lake and a 35,000-acre donation by John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
• 1950: Grand Teton National Park was united using the original 1929 Park and the 1943 National Monument (including Rockefeller’s acreage) to it’s current, more expansive boundary. September 14, 1950

Downtown Jackson: History revealed in collectible postcards.

This amazing set of images show the towns transition over several decades. Watch for the vintage cars, neon signs, and hodge-podge architecture.

NEW: The Chapel of the Transfiguration:

Built in 1925, and still in use, this beautiful Chapel has hosted thousands of tourists, locals, and countless weddings. It’s a bit off the beaten path now, but was very much “on the path” for many of the Park’s early years.

NEW: Snake River Overlook: Postcards & Photos

Ansel Adams helped make the location famous with is 1942 photo, but it would be many years before the highway made it accessible for the tourists and photographers. Watch the trees grow!

 

Scalawags and Bridges ~ The Old Buffalo Fork Bridge:

This old bridge showed up in postcards from a lot of photographers. It had a storied history, used until the new bridge was built near Moran Junction in 1958. Most tourists used the main road that ran along the base of the Tetons much farther west. This page contains both postcards and historic photos.

Early Roads in Grand Teton National Park:

This a post I created in 2013 containing a cross section of several of the posts above. It features postcards, maps, and a few photos.

 

Early Photographers and Businessmen

There have been countless photographers taking images that would later be used for postcards and literature. These two photographers blazed the trail for all that followed.

Harrison R. Crandall – Grand Teton National Park’s First Official Photographer

Mr. Crandall was a groundbreaking and influential individual in Jackson Hole. This page only scratches the surface of his life and ventures.

F.J. Haynes – Yellowstone’s First Official Photographer: Under Construction

You don’t have to look very far to find many vintage postcards, guides, books, and souvenirs with Haynes name on it somewhere.

Haynes was documenting Yellowstone long before Grand Teton National Park was established.

F.J. Haynes’ page(s) will take considerable time and energy but I am confident it will we worth the wait!

While he spent most of his time in Yellowstone, he ventured to the smaller park south of Yellowstone for some photos.

 

This is the new HOME PAGE for the Post Cards. I need to get back to work for now, but plan on adding quite a few more postcard pages, such as Mountain Lakes and Streams. Check back! MJ

I offer year round photo tours in Grand Teton National Park and Winter tours in the National Elk Refuge.  Book now! Click the image for additional information.

The post Wish You Were Here! Vintage Jackson Hole Post Cards & Maps first appeared on Best of the Tetons, Area Info & Photography.