Streator Park Photo vs Hand-tinted Postcard

My recent series of blogs on the Carnegie Library and Streator Park generated several emails from my rich network of people and fellow bloggers who are knowledgeable about Lorain's history.

Well-known local historian and archivist Dennis Lamont sent me a great vintage photo of Streator Park, with the Carnegie Library in the background. While admiring it, I realized I had seen it before – as one of the hand-tinted postcards that I had already posted!

I sometimes forget that colorful, vintage 'white border' postcards often have bright blue cloud-filled skies dropped into the composition during the lithographic process. (Click here and here for some nice websites about the history of these 'white border' cards.)

Here's a nice comparison of the original photo and the resulting lithographed postcard. In this case, the outlining of the trees on the colorful postcard is almost amusing (click on it so you can see what I'm talking about!)

Photo courtesy of Dennis Lamont

Vintage Postcard

I wonder how many postcards had those very same clouds?