Travel Back in Time With These 25 Classic Michigan Postcards

Before instant messaging and cell phones, if you traveled and wanted to let someone know you were thinking of them, the easiest way was to send a postcard with a short note from wherever you were. Around the turn of the 20th century, postcards took on the appearance we know today.

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They went from basic sheets of paper to paper with drawings, photos, and more. 1908 saw postcards hit a new level: Curt Teich created what came to be known as the most iconic postcards, the Greetings From large-letter postcards featuring the location name in large letters. Despite the style being over a century old, it remains very popular to this day.

As it turns out, Michigan and many of its cities have received versions of these postcards over the years. Not just the large cities like Detroit, Grand Rapids, and Lansing, but also smaller towns like Escanaba and Ishpeming all had designs of their own made across the 40's and 50's.

READ MORE: 60K Vintage Michigan Postcards Digitized by University of Michigan

Collecting all these large-letter cards is a massive undertaking, one that, according to the Large Letter Postcard Site, has been accomplished by fewer than 10 people. Thankfully, we're just going to admire a variety of the ones made specifically for Michigan.

Without further ado, let's take a look back at these Michigan cities as they were treasured nearly 80 years ago.