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Harford County in Vintage
Postcards by Bill Bates Rationale for postcard selection How did I select the 224 images in this book? After reviewing over 1,500 postcards in various collections, I set myself some rules. 1. Use the oldest images available. Many of the cards dated from 1900 to 1915. 2. Use real photo postcard images when available—these are photos developed onto heavy cardstock photo paper. They have a depth of light and presence that screened postcards can’t match. In fact, some of the later screened cards were knock-offs of earlier photo cards or photographs. 3. Use cards that represent the entire county. For some areas, such as Darlington, I had a wealth of early postcards to choose from. For other areas, such as Darlington’s neighbor, Dublin, I only found one card, so I was sure to include it. 4. A fourth rule I held to was not to repeat images from my previous book, Images of America: Bel Air. I wanted to give buyers of that book entirely new images this time around. Without these rules, I would have taken much longer to select from the wonderful images that were available to me. As it was, I came near to my deadline (and near to tears) still needing to whittle favorites from every chapter. I hope you enjoy the results. |
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