We were inspired to write about Princeton postcards recently after exploring a delightful book titled Princeton: A Picture Postcard History of Princeton and Princeton University.

This well researched book details some interesting nuances about early Princeton postcards. We always knew that the “card” series of postcards were highly collectible and sought after. We didn’t realize that there were eight cards produced in the series. Four “College Queens” including Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, Yale and Harvard were accompanied by four “College Kings” which included Cornell, Michigan, Columbia and the University of Chicago. The cards were issued before the formation of the Ivy League by Raphael Tuck & Sons of England and Michigan and Chicago were at the time football rivalries to the eastern schools.

Raphael Tuck & Son’s claim to fame was they were “Art Publishers to Their Majesties the King and Queen.”

We also learned that the “Big Cannon” depicted in the postcard below was the larger of two field pieces abandoned by the British during the American Revolution.

The postcard below depicts Patton Hall shown just before the Second World War when it was the last dormitory to the south of the main campus. You can see the remote nature this part of the campus had with grass tennis courts in front of the dorm. The building was named for Francis Landey Patton who was the president of the University when it was renamed from the College of New Jersey to Princeton.

We have a nice selection of postcards from Princeton and other schools on our website, check it out!