Postcard Mania

Disasters and accidents postcards

Written by admin on 17 November, 2009 – 8:15 pm -

Humans have it seems always taken malicious delight in the misfortune of others.  The Germans have a word for this - Schadenfreude.  Many of the disasters to befall humankind in the early part of the twentieth century,  from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and subsequent damage from fires through the 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic to erupting volcanoes and the Paris flood of 1910, all were recorded on postcard by the larger publishing firms.  Whether this is Schadenfreude or just morbid curiosity is a moot point, but such postcards are fascinating documents.

Of course these are major internationally recognised catastrophes, other disasters have also been recorded on postcards, but by smaller, local publishers. These may therefore, be more rare and accordingly more expensive.

Tags: accident postcards, disaster postcards
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