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Archival description
Ziperman Postcard Collection
US TxSaT SC.005 · Collection · ca. 1890-2010

Postcards have long been popular as an inexpensive way to communicate with loved ones, commemorate travel, or see world landmarks without leaving home.

The earliest known post card was printed in England in 1870; in the early years, most post cards were issued by government postal agencies. It wasn't until the United States Congress passed the Private Mailing Card Act in 1898--allowing private publishers to print postcards, which would then have a stamp affixed for mailing--that postcards entered the mainstream as a popular means of communication. Initially, consumers were only permitted to write an address on the back of a postcard; it was not until 1907 that "divided back" postcards were authorized by the United States Post Office.

The period between 1898 and 1918 is considered the "Golden Age of Postcards." Most postcards were manufactured by high quality printers in Germany and Austria; World War I shifted the production of many cards to the United States, where quality diminished.

Deltiology is the collecting and study of postcards, and has been a popular past-time since their inception. Margaret "Peg" Ziperman collected postcards throughout her life, both to document her travels and postcards of places she had never been. She was a longtime resident and active community member in San Antonio. Mrs. Ziperman continued to add postcards to the library's collection until her death in 2017 at the age of 102.

Ziperman, Margaret "Peg", 1915-2017
Travel Photograph Albums
US TxSaT SC.045 · Collection · circa 1880s

Collection of dismembered nineteenth century travel photograph albums. Photograph albums like these were popular souvenirs for travelers, and depicted local costume, monuments, landscapes, and town scenes.

This collection consists of leaves removed from multiple albums, including works by photographers Antonio Beato, Félix Bonfils, Francis Frith, Knud Knudsen, Axel Lindahl, Jean Pascal Sébah, Pascal Sébah, Rudolph Tamme, Olaf Martin Peder Væring, James Valentine, G.W. Wilson, and Adelphoi Zangaki, and including works published by Richard Andvord, William Mervin Lawrence, and Schröder & Co. The majority of the photographs are albumen prints; the collection also includes some collodion process prints. Locations depicted in the photographs are primarily in Europe and the Middle East, and include Egypt, England, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Lebanon, Norway, and Sweden. The collection includes a total of 213 photographs.

US TxSaT SC.000-027 · Folder · 1869
Part of Miscellaneous Manuscripts

United States passport document belonging to William J. Fitzsimmons, issued in 1869 with a stamped signature of Secretary of State Hamilton Fish. According to Fitzsimmons's descendant, the pass was issued so that Fitzsimmons could travel from Baltimore to Virginia to check on family.