Greetings from Florida State University 1942 and 2009

These two postcards demonstrate writing at mid-century and writing today. In the 1942 card, the image was fashioned by a professional; the composer's task was to write on the back side and post it--and in 1942 it cost a penny to mail a postcard. It's interesting, too, that other than the name of the school changing, the setting is remarkably the same in spite of the 60+ intervening years.

The 2009 postcard was created using a template on the web: http://www.fsu.com/ecard32/ Here a composer has many opportunities, as the website explains:

Send the message that you're proud of FSU! Use our free ePostcards to deliver congratulations, birthday or holiday greetings, or just a friendly "Hello from an FSU fan."
It's fast, it's easy, and best of all, it's free! Click now and start sending your FSU ePostcards today!Choose your category, click on your photo, and follow the instructions to create your own FSU ePostcard. Or use our ready-made special occasion cards.
Become an FSU ePostcard member and get special members-only features, including an address book, birthday calendar and reminders, stamps, backgrounds and music for your e-postcards, and password protection. For these features and much more, log in (above).

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So in this case, the writer can do what the 1942 writer can do, of course: purchase a postcard, write on the back of it, and mail it--although it will cost you more than a penny to post it! But in 2009, the writer can create the entire postcard--including images, font style and size; colors, arrangement of images, and sound. The writer, in other words, has become a designer, and creates with many materials.

Greetings from Florida State College for Women

Early in this century, and later (for that matter), postcards accomplished one or more of several ends. Sometimes, they did send the message "Wish you were here!" Sometimes they were used to advertise a school, a location, or an event. And sometimes, they were used to inform others. Here, this postcard from Florida State College for Women seems to do all of the above.