Cape Cod Memories: An Illustrated History in Postcards

By Karen Choppa and Mary L. Martin

Book Overview

Beware, armchair travelers, this book may create a yearning that only walks along the Cape's streets and coves will satisfy. For those who have visited the Cape, it will conjure up recollections of an idyllic vacation. For natives, it will be like reading a letter from home in picture and verse. The picturesque images capture a way of life that is both historic and nostalgic. Over two hundred vintage postcards, from the early 1900s through the 1950s, display carefree times in the Cape's small towns, quiet beaches, and bustling harbors. Verses by the Cape's celebrated writer and poet, Joseph Crosby Lincoln, are interspersed amid the charming images.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 076432389X
• ISBN13: 9780764323898
• Release Date: May 2006
• Publisher: Schiffer Publishing
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 10.9" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

A Must For Postcard Collectors

I love visiting antique stores and purchasing old photographs and postcards. In the past few years I have amassed a sizable collection of postcards from Cape Cod, many of them artists' renditions of Cape Cod. These painted scenes depict the old Cape Cod of people's imaginations, those fueled by writers such as Joseph Lincoln (whose house is one of the fits postcards shown in the book). CAPE COD MEMORIES is filled with a variety of these post cards. Some show familiar landmarks, other cares are of places that no longer exist, and some are just humorous cards from a day and age when no trip would be complete without sending a postcard or two to the people at home. The book also has some commentary about the postcards, though the artwork tells the real story. While this book is a wonderful memento of a Cape Cod vacation, my guess is that postcard collectors will enjoy it most. Not only does it have a wide array of postcards, it also gives the value of each card. My only criticism, and I'll admit it is a minor criticism: not all of the postcards in the collection of "Cape Cod" postcards are from Cape Cod or the surrounding vacinity. "Idlewood Lake" in Hamilton, MA is about sixty miles north of the Cape Cod Canal, closer to Gloucester on the North Shore. While it borders Massachusetts' other Cape--Cape Ann, it's not part of Cape Cod though it does show a nice vacation spot of old.