Harbor Country Living

Postard of Union Pier in the 1940's

Postcards from the Past: Collection chronicles the way we were

This stylized postcard, part of Bob Rosenbaum's collection, shows Union Pier as it appeared in the 1940s. Gillman's Grill (at right) is now the Dark Horse Tavern.
UNION PIER - Bob Rosenbaum first got the notion that he might enjoy collecting postcards around 1997, when he was four years away from his retirement from NIPSCO, the Michigan City-based power company. "At first, I was just going to collect Union Pier cards," Rosenbaum said. "I've always loved Union Pier, and I've lived here all my life."

But since most of the old postcards he found at regional postcard shows were inexpensive, averaging only a dollar or two, whenever he came across images of New Buffalo, Lakeside, Three Oaks and other Southwest Michigan (and even some Northern Indiana) towns, he began acquiring those, too.

Rosenbaum with Collection

Then the value of old postcards began to rise ."Four or five years ago, the average card may have cost $4 or $5," the collector said. "That's changed. Many cards go for $10 or even $20 now." Nevertheless, in the span of only seven years, Rosenbaum's collection has grown to some 2,200 postcards, approximately a fourth of them depicting scenes of Harbor Country long before it became known by that name. Some of the cards date back to the early 1900s, when the local landscape was a wilderness compared to what it is today, and carriages, not cars, were the means by which residents and visitors alike negotiated its narrow dirt roads. But even the postcards from as late as the 1950s reveal a world that seems centuries, not mere decades, removed from the Harbor Country of 2004. Postcards were never intended to have historical value, but many have managed to acquire it. In Rosenbaum's case, cards from his collection have found a place in several local histories. "Some of my cards were used in the Muellers' (Robert and RoseAnna) book 'Harbor Country,' which came out last year, and there will be others in another book that's still in the works."

Union Pier Dreamland Poster

Now Rosenbaum is planning to publish not one, but two, books of his own. The first, which may be out by summer's end, is simply a reproduction of virtually his entire collection of Harbor Country postcards. Some 530 of them filling 186 magazine-size pages.

For anyone who has lived in Harbor Country long enough, or who has visited often enough to know its landmarks and basic topography, the images on the cards are truly fascinating, providing a genuine glimpse back in time. For example, there are views of Union Pier and downtown New Buffalo in the 1940s, the New Buffalo Harbor as far back as the early 1900s, Lakeside in the 1920s, Three Oaks when Elm Street was a dirt road lined with buggies.

Some of the cards contain images of the people of those times - the ghosts of Harbor Country, if you will - frolicking at the beach, posing at some public event or simply going about their daily business. A number of the captured subjects, who are no doubt long departed from this world, happened to be looking directly into the camera when their photographs were taken, making eye contact with you as you wonder who they were and what their lives were like.

Despite the undeniable magic of photography, there are those who would challenge the assertion that photos are the sole measure of a postcard's value. "For me, a postcard is about what's on its front," Rosenbaum said. "That's what I'm interested in, and it's why I collect them. Other people - my wife (Barbara) included - are more interested in what's on the back." That may include the postage stamp, the postmark, and, of course, the written message itself, though more often than not, it is likely to be as familiar and unimaginative as those on the postcards we send and receive today. But not always.

Weekend Friends, at Station, Union Pier, MI

A random sampling of Rosenbaum's cards, the majority of which were purchased "new" and unblemished, nevertheless revealed several that actually had been used for their intended purpose. If the messages they bore seemed more interesting than they should have, perhaps it was because of their age. In one case, a man asks the woman to which the postcard is addressed why she hasn't answered his letters, and he pleads that she do so. In another, a son dutifully tells his mother how he is spending his vacation here (horseback riding, he says). In yet another, a man cautions a woman, perhaps his wife or a relative, to keep an eye on a certain couple who, he writes, have been "flirting to beat the band."

Rosenbaum is hoping the proceeds from his postcard book will help pay for the printing of his second project, a history of Union Pier that is currently at 300 pages. "It's something that I've always wanted to do," he said, "but I could never find the time." Until now. Resembling a scrapbook, it mainly consists of news and feature stories from old newspapers, such as the long-forgotten "Union Pier Wave," which during the 1930s frequently published articles by Mrs. H. W. Gowdy, the wife of one of the town's prominent early residents.

"It has anything and everything I could find on Union Pier," Rosenbaum said. What he would love to add, if anyone can help him, is some photos of the White Palace dance hall that once stood behind where the Union House restaurant is now; the Red Front Store, if anyone still remembers that business; and Ben & Dot's Delicatessen on Lakeshore Road.

To contact Rosenbaum, phone (269) 469-2443, or e-mail him at unionpierspast.com.Of course, if you're not in any hurry, you can always send him a postcard. The first "postal cards" appeared in Germany in 1870. They contained no artwork, but rather were intended as an inexpensive way for people to send written communications to each other, as sending sealed letters through the mail was too expensive back then. Picture postcards came along in 1880, but even early American cards were printed in Germany, where lithographing was done cheaply. In the United States, early postcards were used to promote presidential candidates, women's suffrage and even Prohibition. They were also used to commemorate holidays, such as Halloween and the Fourth of July. The postcard as we know it today arrived after World War Two, when Americans started buying cars and taking driving vacations. That's when gas stations, motels and other businesses began giving away cards as a form of advertising.

Today, postcard sales in the United States are estimated to generate some $80 million per year.

August 5, 2004 By Ray Gudas, News associate editor
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