North Dakota Cities and Towns Postcard Collection

Collection

Identifier: Photo 2000

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The North Dakota Cities and Towns Postcard Collection represents the largest collecting program by Dr. Ronald Olin, spanning many years of seeking out images and postmarks from all North Dakota cities and towns. While his primary interest was postal history and thus collecting postcards for the postmarks, this collection is much broader in scope and thus its research value. The collection documents largely the built environment of many of the towns, yet does include social scenes and landscapes. The time period covered is from circa 1906 into the 1920s, although there are images that go into the 1930s through 1950s.Other collections assembled by Dr. Olin and donated to the Institute are listed in the Overview section above under Links. The postcards were organized by Dr. Olin in plastic sleeves held in three-ring binders, roughly alphabetically by town. This arrangement was retained when processed. However the postcards collected for the postmark were placed in a separate series, alphabetically by name of the town. Postcards that were ‘Greetings from’ a town and did not contain an image of the town also were separated into a separate series. Dr. Olin’s collection of Fargo postcards (1,252 items) was accessioned at an earlier date and processed as a separate collection (Photo 2001). Postcards are not only visual records. Many of the postcards were in fact mailed and so contain written messages, stamps, and postmarks. The backs of the cards were also printed with information about the publisher, captions describing the image, and ornamentation. The printed text, along with the stamp and postmark, can help to date and place the manufacture and use of the cards. Alternatively, the captions and written messages contain a wealth of information that can be used to learn about the postcard‘s image or to illuminate the attitudes and interests of the past. The North Dakota Cities & Towns Series is arranged strictly alphabetically by the name of the town. For those towns with a larger number of postcards, they were organized into a consistent, specific topical order. For towns with more than thirty postcards, the subdivisions are included in the folding listing. The collection includes both photographic postcards and commercially printed postcards. Some of the photographic postcards likely are unique images, being the only copy made. The North Dakota Series contains 237 images that do not pertain to a specific city or town They have been arranged topically. The larger files include Agriculture (50 items), Campaign items (30), Farming and homesteading (22), U.S.S. North Dakota (9) and Transportation (17). Consult the contents section for a complete listing of the topics covered. The Erickson Series includes sixty-eight postcards taken circa 1910. The photographers appear to be William Henry Erickson, wife Magie Erickson, and possibly son Elbred and wife Hattie Erickson. The family was originally from Waterville, Minnesota. In the early 1900s the family moved to Stark County, N.D. where they farmed. Many of the images likely were taken in the Gaylord, N.D. area, located south of Belfield. Some specifically state the photographers were from Gaylord. Other images were taken in the nearby Badlands. The images are not of professional quality, with some under or over exposed. The images have been organized topically, and include of a 1910 July 4 celebration at Gaylord (6), Badlands (20), Little Missouri River (6), Farms (5), Livestock (12), and groups of people and in social settings (14). The Frank Fiske Series contains twenty-one photographic postcards. It includes images of Fort Yates, and a ‘Cowboys Reunion’ held at Beulah, N.D. The Fred Olsen Series consists of sixty-five photographic postcards, all taken by Olsen circa 1910-1911. Little is known about Mr. Olsen. He was living in McLean County, N.D. in 1910 and listed in the census as a photographer. He was born in Wisconsin in 1878. The collection has been organized by North Dakota town or topical. The largest files are of Indians (10), Farming and Ranching scenes (13), and general scenery (16). All have some identifying information printed on the front of the postcard. It is a nice collection of relatively well crafted images. The ‘Greetings from … ’ Series is arranged alphabetically by North Dakota town name. These postcards do not have an image related to the town represented, rather they include words such as ‘Greetings from …’, ‘Good luck from …’, ‘Souvenir from …’,‘Just a greeting from …’, ‘Boost from …’, ‘A note from …’ etc. Many of them were commercially produced in color with flowers, general illustrations, even humorous images. Although most are of paper, there are postcards make on leather and even metal. Many of these postcards were mailed and thus include personal messages and postmarks. The Postmarks of North Dakota Towns Series is arranged alphabetically by North Dakota town name. These were collected by Dr. Olin because of the postmark and do not include an image related to the town represented. Obviously all postcards in this series were mailed and thus include personal messages. The front illustrations are of a wide variety including related to holidays, birthdays, non-North Dakota images, as well as poetry and humorous themes. Some also are ‘greetings from … ‘ postcards. Included is a small number of envelopes and non-image postcards sold by the postal service.

Dates

1900 - 1999

Creator

Olin, Ronald, collector. (Person)

Access

The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the Institute.

Copyrights

Items in this collection are primarily in the public domain, or reside with the original creator.

Biography

Ronald Olin was born at Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1935. He received his B.S. and M.D. medical degrees from the Manitoba Medical College in Winnipeg, graduating in 1959. From 1960 to 1964 he was a fellow in internal medicine at the Mayo Clinic of Rochester, Minn. He practiced medicine at Fargo Clinic & MeritCare in Fargo, N.D. from 1964 until retiring in 1988. One of Dr. Olin’s long-time interests has been postal history. He was a charter member of the North Dakota Postal History Society formed in 1983. Dr. Olin has published numerous articles on North Dakota postcards and postal history in such publications as LaPosta, Dakota Collector of the Dakota Postal History Society and the Twin City Postcard Club’s journal. Although interested in Dakota postal history, Dr. Olin also has collected extensively in postcard images of North Dakota cities and towns. Dr. Olin is retired and lives in Fargo.