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Dale E. Jenkins collection of Manhattan restaurant postcards

Call Number

PR 337

Date

circa 1901–1950s, inclusive

Creator

Jenkins, Dale E.

Extent

0.66 Linear feet (approximately 100 postcards in one box)

Language of Materials

English .

Abstract

Postcards depicting Manhattan restaurants dating from the first half of the 20th century.

Historical Note

Between 24 December 1901 and 1 March 1907, the United States Postal Service regulated where a sender could write on a picture postcard: the message was to go on the front (image) side of the card, with the recipient's address on back. Postcards printed after 1 March 1907 generally have divided backs (with a vertical line down the middle) to accommodate both message and address. Thus, it is possible to estimate the age of cards that have not been postmarked by remembering that undivided backs were made before 1 March 1907.

Many of the Manhattan restaurant postcards in the Dale E. Jenkins Collection date from the "linen" era, 1931–1959. So-called linen postcards were produced on inexpensive card stock with a finish that resembled linen fabric. They are easily recognizable by their texture and bright colors.

Arrangement

The collection is housed in one small box of 15 folders. The donor arranged some of the postcards in four categories—"Chinese," "Interesting Reverse," "Nice Graphics," and "Older" (see Folder 15)—but to provide access for researchers seeking specific establishments, the cards are now sorted alphabetically by restaurant name.

Scope and Contents

All but two of the approximately 100 postcards in this collection depict restaurants in Manhattan from the first half of the 20th century. One card is for an establishment in Brooklyn ("Japanese Restaurant, Dreamland, Coney Island" in Folder 5), and the other shows a general neighborhood view, not a restaurant ("Chinatown" in Folder 2).

Access Restrictions

Open to qualified researchers.

Photocopying undertaken by staff only. Limited to twenty exposures of stable, unbound material per day. (Researchers may not accrue unused copy amounts from previous days.)

Use Restrictions

Permission to reproduce any Print Room holdings through publication must be obtained from: Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 270. Fax: (212) 579-8794.

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as the Dale E. Jenkins Collection of Manhattan Restaurant Postcards, PR 337, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections, The New-York Historical Society.

Credit line (for exhibition labels): Gift of Dale E. Jenkins.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Dale E. Jenkins, 2015.

Related Archival Materials

A number of the restaurants in this collection are also represented in boxes 51–52 of the Postcard File (PR 054), arranged alphabetically by restaurant name.
Printed menus for some of these restaurants might be found in the 10,000-piece Arnold Shircliffe Menu Collection.

Collection processed by

Joseph Ditta, August 2017

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:51:29 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Description is written in: English, Latin script.

Processing Information

Processed by Archivist Joseph Ditta, August, 2017.

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024