Picture postcards were a large part of the tourist trade in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and were immensely popular as souvenirs. Today, historians use postcards as evidence of changes to places that may have escaped formal documentation such as buildings, events, landscapes, and vanished private gardens.

While many postcards focus on a public landmark or building, they often yield clues to the landscape around them.

Look for horticultural details like trees, lawns, and flower beds and for garden features like fountains, benches and urns.

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