A lot of information is
packed on a postcard, particularly one that was sent a century ago. What is printed
or written on a card, or attached to it, adds layers of interest and significance. Who
sent it and to whom? What was it like back then? If the card was mailed and
the postage stamp is intact, what do the stamp and cancellation tell us? Who took
the photograph or drew the picture that appears on the card? Who was the printer or
distributor? How and where was it made and sold? How much did it cost?
Does the card promote or advertise something? Was it part of a set or series?
For countries like Great
Britain and the United States, decades of collecting and research have answered many of
these questions. But for smaller countries like Guatemala, little or nothing has
been documented. Given its comparative isolation and long history of devastating
earthquakes and political unrest, Guatemala was never a major tourist destination.
Armchair travelers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, however, were eager to see
the strange and exotic, and Mayan pyramids and artifacts were veiled in mystery that
excited their imagination. They delighted in placing images of foreign peoples and
places in their albums. Photographers fanned out from the developed world to capture
those images during what is now known as the Golden Age of Postcards. Publications
like National Geographic, founded in 1889, helped meet the demand of a public fascinated
with pictures of people who appeared very different from themselves. No doubt the
photographs encouraged some Europeans and Americans to feel superior to such people and to
exploit them.
From the Spanish conquest
forward, foreigners went to Guatemala to make their fortunes. Beneath Guatemala's
natural beauty were resources that attracted foreign interests. A docile population
acquiesced while Guatemala's riches spread east to Europe and north to the United States.
Foreigners established coffee and banana plantations, electrical power networks,
and transportation systems. Indigenous peoples planted and harvested the crops,
built power plants, railroads and ports, and transported the products to the sea.
Cities became showcases of broad avenues and stylish architecture that reflected the
success of these ventures. Many of the early postcards were likely products of
boosterism. Pictures of what was being accomplished were proudly mailed, encouraging
more investment and immigration. All of this -- and more -- is reflected in
the postcards.
Guatemala has a rich history
of photography beginning in the mid-1850s and influenced by
Eadweard
Muybridge, who lived there in 1875. The earliest known picture postcards in
Guatemala, however, date from the turn of the century. Postcards may have been
thought to have little value and were discarded, for relatively few prior to World
War II have survived. Although many photographs were taken by foreigners whose view
of their subjects was ethnocentric, what is seen on those postcards is precious and often
poignant today. Early postcards document a people in transition and cultural
legacies evolving into different forms. The images -- and this is especially true
for real photo postcards -- may be the only visual and historic record that has
survived!
Centuries of foreign
influence had left Guatemala ill-equipped to maintain a stable society amidst political
turmoil. Particularly culpable was the CIA, which on behalf of United Fruit and in
the name of anti-Communism, overthrew Guatemala's democratically elected government in
1954 and installed a harsh military regime. Guatemala has suffered five decades of
civil war and genocide. With the exception of the work of artist-photographer
Daniel Hernández-Salazar, nothing of this brutal period is
recorded on postcards.
Often we are lucky to know
who took a particular picture, and too often, the name is all we know. Although
various publishers issued standard view cards, this web site features only the work of
photographers whose work has been documented. Collecting, archiving and analyzing such
information is relatively new in Central America. The effort to gather and preserve
as much evidence as possible is vital because vintage photographs capture an era that is
vanishing, and in many cases, is already gone forever.
