Anderson Design Groups centennial postcard collection provides the source materials for our content analysis. Journal of Cultural Geography 28 (2): 281-309. Reno: University of Nevada Press. At the postcards top, a slogan instructs viewers to Visit Beautiful Acadia National Park, Maine. The eye, however, is first drawn to a tall-masted schooner with a crowded deck. The bears intense focus and raw power are subtly captured in how they hunch over the water, muscles tense as they wait, poised, to snap their jaws shut on prey. yosemite matchbook covers national park

No less significant is what goes unsaid by these slogans. Apr 27, 2021 The vision of the national parks as natures refuge is the most prominent theme of the postcard collection. Hoelscher, S. and D. Alderman. Our analysis of the Anderson Design Group (ADG) postcard collection suggests three key findings. A third significant theme is that of a distinct American heritage. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 95 (3): 626-643. 2006. Clouds shaped like undiscovered continents are blazoned across an evening sky. The bowl of golden sky pours through Kolob Arch. US Park Pass is an authorized reseller of the America the Beautiful - the National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Annual Pass. These include revamping outdated and overused park infrastructure, increasing diversity and inclusion, and addressing the consequences of climate change. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 66 (2): 266-276.

Valued as collectors items, souvenirs, and a means of correspondence, postcards remain available at many tourist waypoints, including gas-stations, museums, or national park gift stores. Yellowstone National Park, the Every Kid in a Park initiative, President Obamas Fathers Day visit to 2020 Amber Share. An homage to the unique beauty of our public lands, these 100 beautifully illustrated postcards feature timeless designs of all 63 of Americas national parks.Send postcards of Great Smoky Mountains, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, the Everglades, Acadia, and more with this iconic set of 100 postcards. In the scenes backdrop, hazily outlined mountain silhouettes subtly mirror the skys shape above. 2003. 2002. While the postcards achieve the task of celebrating and promoting the national parks, their success does not completely align with other park initiatives addressing the rapidly changing terrain of twenty-first century environmental, political, and social challenges facing the national parks. Nash, R. 2014. Postcards representative of American heritage space are also laden with a sense of American exceptionalism, which aligns with Johnsons (1999) definition of heritage as an ideological framing of identity. Historically significant use of park landscapes, including subsistence lifeways, are left out of the slogans narrative. GeoJournal 75 (1): 119-132. Previous geographical postcard analyses inform our examination of the ADG postcard collection. These two definitions inform our identification of heritage in the centennial postcards through emphasizing their ability to depict American cultural landscapes and ideologies of exceptionalism. To do so, we identify how features in ADGs collection help construct a particular theme. Thanks to national park protections, the backdrop of evergreens no longer holds value as a rich source of timber (Cronon 1983). Second, we interpret these features to understand how they contribute to national park place identity. National parks become sites where people can enjoy recreating in some of the countrys most spectacular places. The fishes bright colors and scattered arrangement across the images foreground draws the eye like thrown confetti. The water flows with enough force to splash upward and soak the bears underbellies. In the background swims a feminine silhouette equipped in scuba gear. ----------. Like the image of Saguaro National Park, the Zion postcards mythic dimensions are strongest when its image is considered holistically. The divers presence suggests that Biscayne is best enjoyed through a literal immersion into place. The way these postcards frame place identity, however, offers only a partial picture of the federal governments larger twenty-first century vision for the national parks. London: IB Tauris. Second, there are the parks eponymous saguaros. Social and Cultural Geography 5 (3): 347-355. In this scene from Katmai, there are no humans to interfere with the life-and-death struggle playing out between two charismatic beings in the waning daylight of the Alaskan backcountry. Geographical thinking encourages conceptualizations of myth that focus on landscape as much as metaphor. Centennial promotion took many forms. We want to make sure you know: Select one of our locations. The fishes muscular bodies twist in effort as they try to make their way up the fast-flowing rapids. This is not an official U.S. Government website. Jacoby, K. 2001. All reviews become the property of Mast General Store. Just for joining youll get personalized recommendations on your dashboard daily and features only for members. Schwartz, J. and J. Ryan. ----------. On Grand Canyon Postcards. The postcard of Saguaro National Park leverages symbolism and a singular color palette to develop a sense of a mythic landscape (Figure 5). Visually centered on crepuscular rays streaming through iconic Kolob Arch, this scene draws on long established traditions of romanticism in depicting Western landscapes (Cronon 1995). Murdoch, D. 2001. What emerges is a moral geography, where postwar middle-class recreation is privileged (Spence 1996; Jacoby 2001). Through light, color, and shadow, the sky, water, bears, and fish are all imbued with a sense of movement. The postcards perspective captures a vision of Biscayne that invites the viewer to join the diver in a subtropical playground. Our subsequent examination recognized the importance of subjectivity in analysis. It is a Federal Copyright offense to reproduce or replicate these images without permission. The Acadia National Park and Sequoia National Park postcards depict historically significant objects and sites and serve as strong examples of American heritage. In A Geography of Beer, edited by M. Patterson and N. Hoalst-Pullen, 167-187. gunfight park exile street rolling stones main hyde saloon west digitaldreamdoor newton august hide This article interrogates centennial promotion efforts to understand dominant place-based narratives associated with the national parks. Lanham: Rowman Littlefield and Sons. buckskin 1864 We felt our initial quantitative approach failed to capture the greater themes embedded in the collection. Katmai National Park presents an untrammeled and dynamic nature, where fluvial and biological processes intertwine and continue unabated. Captain Americas Empire: Reflections on Identity, Popular Culture, and Post-9/11 Geopolitics. Suitable for mailing, framing, or using as gift tags, National Parks: Acadia, Arches, Denali, Everglades, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Great Smoky Mountain, Hawai'i Volcanoes, Olympic, Rocky Mountain, Yellowstone & Yosemite. Social and Cultural Geography 5 (3): 483-496. These themes are manifested through ADGs use of charismatic North American wildlife and images of wilderness; depictions of outdoor recreation and use of inviting slogans; representations of American cultural landscapes; and adept use of iconic images and application of light and color.

Rivers of Empire: Water, Aridity, and the Growth of the American West. 2010. In the following sections, we examine how selected postcards exemplify a particular theme of the national parks. Widely available to the public, the postcard images actively shape popular understandings of the national parks. Microbreweries, Place, and Identity in the United States. The viewer can almost hear the burbling roar of the water as it flows and crashes over the rocky riverbed. 1992. Editing Nature in Grand Canyon National Park Postcards. 2011. Historical Fiction if You Love Old Hollywood, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi on Raising Antiracist Children, Staff Picks: Emilia Pisani Shares What She's Loving Right Now, Browse All Our Lists, Essays, and Interviews. Environmental History 16 (1): 138-147. The use of the charismatic fauna in national park imagery suggests a form of American national identity bound to natural resources and a wilderness experience (Cronon 1995). The Qualitative Report 11(3): 538-549. By clicking Sign Up, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Penguin Random House's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Hanging above them is the slogan See Kolob Arch. Three mature grizzlies dominate the scene as they hunt for spawning salmon forcing their way upstream. to save this product to your wish list. It cuts through calm green waters, angling for an advantageous position to view a whales tail breaking the surface. The postcard image of Sequoia National Park is the strongest example of this phenomenon (Figure 4). The massive tree and miniaturized slogan work together to proclaim this sequoia as the worlds biggest, establishing this national park as the root of an American national identity grounded in monumental nature (Nash 2014; Runte 2010). 2014. Postcards also have the ability to reach a geographically far-flung audience and shape how this audience understands places. 2004. Start earning points for buying books! The postcard imbues a sense of playfulness into the scene through the use of subject matter, color, and intertextual associations with place. As representative of the national park system, this postcard shapes wider perceptions of not only Kolob Arch and Zion, but also of Western landscapes more generally. The exotic fish and turtle give reasons as to why the diver has chosen Biscayne. Those postcards demonstrating mythic space feature heavy use of symbolic figures and iconography. Our research showcases the importance of twenty-first century postcard analysis. GreetingsFrom: 24 Vintage-Style Postcards of National Parks Across Americaoffers 24 vintage-style postcards that map out the features of each national park and share the park's stats as well. The American West: The Invention of a Myth. Human absence reveals the national parks as a last bastion of wild nature. Crimes Against Nature: Squatters, Poachers, Thieves, and the Hidden History of American Conservation. 2012. In this image, whales remain the schooners goal, but the ships armament is no longer the whalemans harpoon, but rather the 21st century tourists camera. The Acadia National Park postcard resurrects historically significant Maine industries, but transforms them to reflect what is valuable about Acadias contemporary park landscape. Fifty-Nine Parks believes public lands and the art of printmaking are worth preserving. Framed by two tree trunks reminiscent of the columns of a Greek temple, the General Sherman tree dominates the scene and towers high above a miniaturized person and station wagon. Following Youngs (2012) methods, we categorized and quantified images important to identifying postcard themes such as the appearance of wildlife, presence of people, depictions of historic sites, and scenic views. These exhort viewers to immerse themselves into a particular park experience. Indulge in a little vintage whimsy with this post card set. By clicking SIGN UP,I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Penguin Random Houses, Editor's Picks: Science Fiction & Fantasy. Meanings of Place and Aspects of the Self: An Interdisciplinary and Empirical Account. New York: Norton. Choosing a selection results in a full page refresh. Anderson Design Groups centennial postcards present narratives aligning with mainstream understandings of the national parks historical significance. Biscayne National Park is the most playful of the entire collection (Figure 2). The authors thank Joel Anderson of Anderson Design Group for his enthusiastic support and his permission to use Anderson Design Group artwork and colleague Laurel Angell for her input on an earlier draft of this paper. The Emergence of Standardized, Idealized, and Placeless Landscapes in Midwestern Main Street Postcards. Rider, saguaros, and desert are arrayed on a deeper tableau. Studies within geography predominantly use historical postcards as their source materials (Pritchard and Morgan 2003). Two definitions frame our identification of heritage as a distinct theme within the postcard series. Greetings From: 24 Vintage-Style Postcards of National Parks Across America. This theme primarily taps into deeply rooted wilderness attitudes towards nature and affirms popularly entrenched assumptions that humans and nature are separate and oppositional entities (Cronon 1995). With respect to national parks, American exceptionalism is grounded in superlative landscape features (Runte 2010). The interplay of shadow and light on the vegetation and water, the orange sky above, and the warm hues that highlight the bears richly textured hides all suggest a crepuscular scene moments before an unseen sun sinks below the horizon (Figure 1). One can imagine their frenetic and desperate movements as they launch themselves into air. National Parks: The American Experience, 4th Edition. Many postcards also include slogans or invitations to the viewer. Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State University, National Park Service - Park Unit Boundaries, Map of Katmai National Park and Preserve (1994), Topographic Map of Acadia National Park (1931). Postcards are not neutral representations of the places they depict. New Haven: Yale University Press. The waterfall falling over the cliffs on the viewers right suggests that springtime has arrived in the Utah desert. Graham, B. The association between the Florida Keys and Biscayne, meanwhile, introduces an intertextual element to what it means to be in Biscayne National Park. All rights reserved. From landscape paintings (Allen 1992) and magazine illustrations (Wyckoff and Nash 1994) to beer labels (Schnell and Reese 2014) and comic books (Dittmer 2005), visual media in their myriad forms articulate selective visions of place. Heritage as Knowledge: Capital or Culture? Worster, D. 1985. We define place identity as the collective understandings of places contributing to a sense of shared belonging (Blake 2008; Antonsich 2010). Obscured by orange shades of sunset, the saguaroslooming like arid Entsframe and surround the rider. create an account Comprised of fifty-nine postcards, the Anderson Design collection presents rich visual imagery of each national park. Lanham: Taylor Trade Publishing. colter john mountain man yellowstone painting park national metz clark lewis wyoming explorer fearless gerry trapper portrait expedition teton cowboys This view is from an impossible vantage point, for the images perspective simultaneously captures sights of the waters surface, the sky above, seabirds, and a small personal sailboat. Allen, J. 2014. Rays of light illuminate a verdant pine forest. badlands Biscayne is one of the few postcards to depict a waterscape. 2008. 2014. Wilderness and the American Mind, 5th Edition. Discussions about precise definitions of heritage are numerous and oft-contested. The 2016 centennial offered further opportunity to generate widespread support for the parks. Your review requires staff approval before posting. 2011. Where the Cowboy Rides Away: Mythic Places for Western Film.

Uncommon Ground: Toward Reinventing Nature. Johnson, N. 1999. Journal of Historical Geography 18 (1): 27-40. New York: Oxford University Press. The spawning fish and saturated blue of the fast-flowing river suggests a healthy riparian system, as does the rich and thick greenery lining the rivers banks. 2005. In 2016 the National Park Service (NPS) celebrated its 100th year of existence. First, we employ content analysis to identify the postcards major themes. Looking for store hours or directions? New York: Hill and McGraw. Geographical Review 85 (2): 202-216. They also thank the services and comments of two anonymous reviewers and editor Dr. Michael Steinberg: all offered valuable insights during the revisions process. Reno: University of Nevada Press. Wyckoff, W. and C. Nash. Zane Grey and Images of the American West. Geographical Review 102 (4): 486-509. Dordrecht: Springer Science and Media. Lastly, we suggest these themes convey visions of the national parks that favor traditional attitudes towards nature and American identity, and consequently come into tension with alternative conceptualizations of the national parks. Mythic space is the final dominant theme present in the centennial postcard collection, and all postcards laden with this theme showcase western landscapes and support the claim that the American West is arguably the most mythic ever created by a nation from its past (Murdoch 2001, quoted in Blake 2014 p. 261). Picturing Place: Photography and the Geographical Imagination. Intent on their task, the bears fix their eyes on the water. Youngs, Y. A colorful and funny national park one star review illustration postcard, perfect for the national parks lover in your life! Uniquely Designed National Park Postcards, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park Postcard, Gates of the Arctic National Park Postcard, Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve Postcard, Great Smoky Mountain National Park Postcard, Use left/right arrows to navigate the slideshow or swipe left/right if using a mobile device, choosing a selection results in a full page refresh. The beholding eye of the postcard viewer cannot help but be drawn to the bear in the foreground, depicted here a split second before capturing a leaping fish. Instead, they project idealized and selective visions of place, where their images are edited for particular meanings. The backdrop to these western icons also shaped our contemplation of the scene. Through invoking the Florida Keys toponym, Biscayne becomes linked with a popular vacation destination. Myths are also intimately bound to place and are embedded in the material world just as much as in the terrain of the mind. Please try again later. The whole postcard is greater than the sum of its parts. Schnell, S. and J. Reese. Brief Note on the Origins, Evolution, and Meaning of Qualitative Thick Description. Their utility and popularity may also be explained by postcards material form and the implications it has for social memory. Ponterotto, J.G.

Myths are integral to many cultural landscapes. Wright, J. Hausladen, G. 2003. Runte, A. The slogan, too, is miniaturized, and the effect is that General Shermans image is left to speak for itself. Dittmer, J. Recovering Social Memories from the Past: the 1884 Novel Ramona and Tourist Practices in Turn-of-the-Century Southern California. On a rocky cliff shoreline, Bass Head Harbor Lighthouse is immaculate. The visions present in the postcards reach audiences across the world, offering a powerful reminder of the role visual imagery has in contributing to geographic imaginations. Sign up for updates on the parks, tips for planning your trip and special offers and promotions. TheNational Park Service as part of United States Department of the Interior is the authorizing agency. Anniversaries like these have historically provided opportunities for the NPS and supporters to promote the values of national park landscapes and plan for their future use and maintenance. Four significant themes emerged from our revised qualitative content analysis that understands postcards as shapers of national park place identity. Youngs (2011), for example, finds that Grand Canyon postcards are edited to convey idealized images of place. Instead, they become part of a larger Acadian landscape aesthetic, one that can be consumed by those seeking beauty on Maines coastline. Use these creative cards to put your own stamp on your shared travelsor simply collect these quaint treasures for yourself. rushmore The federal governments centennial program, including the NPSs signature event An Evening at the Arch; Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthornes The Future of Americas National Parks report to President Bush; and President Obamas Fathers Day address established new directions for the parks. It best represents the national parks as an American playground. Most famously, an ambitious ten-year project dubbed Mission 66 expanded infrastructure across park lands for the NPS 50th anniversary. Follow@subparparkson Instagram for project updates! The wider landscape is a desert, affirming widespread understandings of aridity as a defining feature of the American West (Worster 1985; Wright 2014). - 4 x 6" standard postcard- Vibrant digital print on 16pt matte cardstock, ***Please select your park from the dropdown list - you cannot select a park byscrolling through the images.***. Anderson Design Groups centennial postcard collection presents the national parks as 1) natures refuge; 2) Americas playground; 3) American heritage; and 4) mythic space. In doing so, however, we confronted the lesson cultural geographers are careful to remember in exploring representations of place through content analysis: conflating features for meaning (Schnell 2011). Environmental History 1 (3): 29-49. The Professional Geographer 61 (2): 216-230. 1976. The Local Traveler: Farming, Food, and Place in State and Provincial Tourism Guides, 1993-2008. Journal of Cultural Geography 25 (1): 1-30. Such intertextual references reveal how national parks recreational landscapes can transcend park boundaries and engage with expanded American playgrounds. The point of view is literally immersed in the water, revealing a subtropical reef, brightly colored and patterned fish, and a sea turtle. Tuan, Y.F. They are also a primary means of constructing social memories, particularly about place, that are crucial to identity formation (Hoelscher and Alderman 2004). To redeem, copy and paste the code during the checkout process. 1994. To experience Biscayne is also to engage with the Florida Keys and partake of its recreational amenities for adventurous tourists and snowbirds. Across the bottom of the image the postcard proclaims that Biscayne National Park is in the Florida Keys. Although these two narratives remain disconnected in key ways, we believe the tensions between Anderson Design Groups postcard collection and the federal governments centennial initiatives do not represent a lasting failure, but instead reveal opportunities for future reconciliation between promotion and policy. Contemplating the full image may leave the viewer with a sense that this landscape retains power and agency that defies full human comprehension. Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England. Berkeley: University of California Press. As Delyser (2004) suggests, social memory is recaptured through examining even the smallest traces of past experiences. Cronon, W. 1983. Copyright 2000-2022, Zazzle Inc. All rights reserved. Sailboats, hikers, water planes, canoers, and kayakers feature prominently. Its rich green stands in stark contrast to the burnt hues of the sandstone cliffs. First, by dint of their popularity and mass distribution, we suggest the postcards are one mechanism through which collective place-based meanings of the national parks are established. Mythic space is also captured in the image of Zion National Park (Figure 6). Mythic Geographies of Representation and Identity: Contemporary Postcards of Wales. Blake, K. 1995. The postcard of Acadia National Park showcases an understanding of heritage that aligns with Grahams (2002) argument that heritage is contemporary use of the past (Figure 3).