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Milwaukee, Wisconsin Avenue (USA)
An unused L.L. Cook card (3DK-907) (116Z), beginning to age on the back but clearly showing the Science Building of Marquette University and Gesu Church. Grade: 1
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Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Jockey Club Innovation Tower
Unused card from the School of Design. Grade: 1
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Burlington, University of Vermont (USA)
Unused card whose multiple views include Billings Library and Southwick Hall, housing the Music Department. Grade: 1
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Leicester, multiple views (England)
Mailed in 1980, this card has two different stamps, an overlapping air mail sticker, a clear postmark, and a well-hidden but still-there thumbtack hole. All these views are identified in the caption on the reverse, including “The University”.. Grade: 4
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Madison, University of Wisconsin, Lakefront Terrace – Lake Mendota
We begin an extended series of University of Wisconsin postcards with one that — for us, at least — is unusual because the whole card’s message and address are typed instead of handwritten. This was in 1968; stamp and postmark are still there. Grade: 1
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Madison, University of Wisconsin, Approach to Agricultural Hall (USA)
Unused, linen, C.T. Art-Colortone card 3A-H325 (1536). Grade: 1
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Madison, University of Wisconsin, Ann Emery Hall (Wisconsin, USA)
From the UW Alumni Association website, slightly condensed, “Ann Emery Hall opened on Oct. 22, 1930, as an independent women’s dorm. Named for a beloved Dean of Women, it swiftly became one of the largest and most popular independent halls on campus. (and) was more reminiscent of a medieval manor house than an institutional dormitory. Sadly, after four decades of service, the hall closed in 1971 due to the increasing demand for off-campus apartments. Ironically, the building on Langdon Street is now a private apartment complex.” The Hall lives on, right here, in this unused Tichnor Quality Views card 63062. Grade: 1
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Madison, University of Wisconsin, Lathrop Hall (USA)
Wikipedia tells us that “Lathrop Hall was built in 1908 as a women’s gym and union of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 1985 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places, significant because it is the site of founding of the Athletic Conference of American College Women in 1917, and the site of courses for the first dance major in the U.S. in 1926.” This unused, linen, C.T. Art-Colortone card 3A-H317 (109) has the years 1936-1939 lightly penciled on the reverse. Grade: 2
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Madison, University of Wisconsin, Armory, Gymnasium, YMCA (USA)
The best way to describe this 1912 postcard is “busy”. Very. With the multiple facilities, stamp, postmark, forwarding, expansive caption (did you know Madison was the “Venice of America”?), extra rubber stamp mark, and absolutely indecipherable handwriting … it has everything. Grade: 2
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Madison, University of Wisconsin, Henry Quadrangle, College of Agriculture (Wisconsin, USA)
Mailed in 1931, with stamp and postmark, this card had been folded in half vertically but it is not really disfiguring. There’s a lot to read into the writer’s message … she was a busy gal. Grade: 3
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Madison, University of Wisconsin, Chadborne (sic) Hall (USA)
Interesting background from the University’s Alumni Association: “Dr. Paul A. Chadbourne was chief administrator of UW, from 1867 to 1871. Chadbourne believed that because women were a distraction for men, they were not serious students. He fought to have a sexually segregated campus. So, Ladies Hall was constructed in 1871 to house the Wisconsin Female College. In 1874, after Chadbourne left UW, education was desegregated, and men and women began to share classes. It was then that Ladies Hall stopped housing classes and became just a women’s dormitory. In 1901, Dean Edward A. Birge renamed Ladies Hall as “Chadbourne Hall”. The current Chadbourne Residential College, built in 1959, stands where old Chadbourne Hall previously stood. The Chadbourne facility was occupied by women only until 1995, when it opened its doors to coeducational living.” And the postcard was mailed in 1909, with stamp and postmark, and written by a student whose concerns are timeless. Grade: 1
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Madison, University of Wisconsin, Chadbourne Hall (USA)
Mailed in 1920 with stamp and postmark. Grade: 1
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Madison, University of Wisconsin, aerial view (USA)
A real-photo card mailed in 1909, with stamp and postmark intact. Reading the old messages can be incredibly transporting. Grade: 1
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Madison, University of Wisconsin, Main Building (USA)
Black & white card mailed in 1907 with stamp and postmark. Grade: 1
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Madison, University of Wisconsin, Alpha Epsilon Phi (USA)
“Alpha Epsilon Phi is a national sorority, founded October 24, 1909, by seven Jewish women, dedicated to helping women become the best they can be.” This exact sentence is what you learn about the sorority on innumerable websites, though if you want to know when the UW chapter opened … good luck. This postcard is quite old itself, B&W real-photo, unused. Grade: 1
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Madison, University of Wisconsin, Bascom Hall
Again borrowing from the UW Alumni website, and condensing a bit, “Bascom Hall is one of UW’s oldest and most iconic buildings. While its bones are mostly the same, the current façade has seen quite a few changes since its construction in 1859, then called University Hall or Main Hall. A rounded portico was squared off in 1895, and remains today. The next major change came in 1898 when construction began on the south wing. Enrollment at the university reached 3,000 students by 1905 — and the UW responded by building a north wing. Then, in 1916, came perhaps the most noticeable change: the dome caught fire and burned down, collapsing into a water cistern in the building’s attic (which, legend has it, is still accessible, and the charring is still visible). In 1920, the building was renamed Bascom Hall to honor the former university president John Bascom.” What we at GPS get from this is that the unused B&W real-photo card was printed sometime after 1920. Grade: 1
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Madison, University of Wisconsin, Upper Campus – Bascom Hall (USA)
Unused linen C.T. Art-Colortone card 6B-H2370 (6015). Grade: 1
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Madison, University of Wisconsin (USA)
Here’s an unused and ancient postcard of the university, and the card itself states it is a reproduction of an even earlier sepia photogravure by W.T. Littig & Co. of New York. Grade: 1
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Madison, University of Wisconsin, Camp Randall Stadium (USA)
The expansive caption on this unused 1959 L.L. Cook postcard 18843-B (177Z) tells you what you might want to know. Grade: 1
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Madison, University of Wisconsin, University Buildings from Boat House (USA)
Undivided back card, mailed in 1908 with stamp and good postmark. Grade: 1
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Madison, University of Wisconsin, University Building from City Boat House (USA)
Mailed in 1908 with stamp, really clear postmark, and nicely expressive message. Grade: 1
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Madison, University of Wisconsin, Picnic Point from Observatory Hill (USA)
Unused C.T. Art-Colortone linen card 3A-H899 (98). Grade: 1
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Madison, University of Wisconsin, Carillon Tower – Social Science Building (USA)
Unused Dexter Press card 6133-C. Grade: 1
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Madison, University of Wisconsin, Carillon Tower on Blackhawk Knoll (USA)
Unused, linen C.T. Art-Colortone card 5A-H2671 (1799), and long ago the dates “1936-1939” were penciled on the reverse. Grade: 2
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Madison, University of Wisconsin, Arboretum and Wild Life Refuge (USA)
Unused, linen, C.T. Art-Colortone card 5A-H309 (1652). The scene, as we are told, was an east side view near the Capitol Avenue entrance. Grade: 1
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Madison, University of Wisconsin, State Historical Library (USA)
Mailed in 1909, with stamp and clear Madison postmark, as well as some postmark ink transfer on the front. Even so, a nicely aged library postcard. Grade: 2
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Madison, College of Agriculture, University Barn and Silo (Wisconsin, USA)
With a charming (and complicated) message, stamp, clear postmark from 1911, and some postmark transfer on the front, this is a card for all growing seasons. Grade: 2
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Madison, University of Wisconsin, College of Agriculture and Hygiene Laboratory (USA)
Unused, with minor staining on the reverse. Grade: 2
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Madison, University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Union (USA)
Unused Dexter Press card 17188-C, whose caption remarks that “the Memorial Union is the headquarters of all social activities of the University”. Somehow we doubt that was true then, and almost definitely not now. Grade: 1
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Wisconsin Dells, Fern Dell Country School (USA)
In use from 1883 until 1955, so this unused card must have been published shortly after that. Grade: 1
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Taipei, National Taiwan University, Administration Building
Unused card, captioned almost entirely in Chinese. Grade: 1
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Taipei, National Taiwan University, Library
Unused card, captioned almost entirely in Chinese. Grade: 1
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Dublin, Trinity College (Republic of Ireland)
The Campanile on the Front Square of the College. Unused John Hinde card 2/96. Grade: 1
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Kingston (ON), Queen’s University (Canada)
Mailed in 2024, with three different uncancelled stamps and a kitty sticker. Grade: 4