Uniting Generations Through Rosh Hashanah Golden Age Postcards
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A family gathering around a traditional dinner table for Rosh Hashanah.
By Michael Perlman
Rosh Hashanah, which is known as the “Beginning of the Year” and also referenced as the Day of Judgment and Day of Remembrance, will be observed from the evening of September 22 until the evening of September 24 on the Gregorian calendar, but will occur on 1 to 2 Tishrei on the Hebrew calendar. The year 5786 will be brought in by attending services, where one will review their relationship with G-D and repent. It is a tradition to blow the Shofar, a ram’s horn, as well as eat challah (sometimes prepared with raisins) or apples dipped in honey, which is symbolic for a sweet year.
In the early 20th century, it was also customary to mail a Rosh Hashanah hand-colored lithograph postcard. This was pursued in advance of the holiday, since it is considered to be a High Holy Day alongside Yom Kippur, which is separated by ten days.
The first American “picture postcard” was produced in 1873. Today, a significant number of postcards from the late 19th and early to mid-20th century surprisingly exist in a good to excellent state, with fine penmanship and one-cent and two-cent stamps.
Deltiology is the collection and study of postcards, which derives from “deltion,” a Greek term for a writing tablet or letter. A postcard collector is a deltiologist. Several decades ago, postcards could be found at a corner pharmacy, but today, vintage postcards are found on eBay, at estate sales and postcard shows, or perhaps in a dusty box in your attic, left behind by an earlier homeowner. Nearly every theme is represented, including holidays, hometowns, and hobbies.
The majority of postcards were published between 1898 and 1918, with those from the 1920s and 1930s in fewer quantities. Today, all are considered to be collectible works of art and range from a few dollars to over one hundred dollars, depending on their artistry, publisher, and rarity. It is estimated that by 1913, nearly one billion postcards were mailed in America.
Most Rosh Hashanah postcards are graceful lithographs, where some feature hand-colored traditional home scenes with families having a festive meal in honor of the holiday, as well as couples interacting harmoniously or romantically. Street scenes may include a synagogue or a lake for Tashlich, a ritual which signifies casting away one’s sins. Floral elements and animal scenes can also be observed. Traditional Jewish elements were incorporated into various scenes, including Yontif candle-lighting (holiday that forbids work), davening (praying), Shofar-blowing (symbolic ram’s horn instrument), and Tallitot (shawls).
A Tashlich ritual near-the Brooklyn Bridge.
As a result of a very successful market, some Rosh Hashanah postcards would feature various renditions of the same actors and actresses in studios. At times, families were depicted in a variation of both worlds on the same postcard or different postcards, wearing traditional European clothing, reminiscent of their home country, as well as clothing that was deemed fashionable by American standards. Old World and New World themes were prevalent. Postcards helped families remain connected between native countries and America, as well as from state to state.
On occasion, innovative objects such as telescopes, the radio, telegraph, bicycles, airplanes, hot air balloons, cars, boats, and trains were captured, to emphasize happiness and hopes for productivity and new opportunities in the year to come, while embracing the American Dream. In the early 20th century, there was also a common belief and optimistic perspective, where technology could foster peaceful relations globally. Children, couples, or families would say “Shana Tovah,” Hebrew for “Happy New Year” from a plane or bicycle, for example. Postcards would also state, “L’Shana Tovah Tikatevu,” which means “May you be inscribed in the Book of Life for a good year.”
Decorative motifs enhanced postcards, often in the Victorian or Art Nouveau style. Some postcards were even embossed, adding to their interactive nature.
A major postcard publishing firm for Rosh Hashanah postcards, among other forms of art, was the Williamsburg Art Company or Williamsburg Post Card Company, situated at 25 Delancey Street and later 20 West 20th Street. This firm printed their postcards in Germany, despite being based in Manhattan. Part of their mission was to focus on the Eastern European and Yiddish market in America.
Couple on plane for Tashlich, Williamsburg Post Card Company.
Designers operated in America and Europe, as printers brought the Rosh Hashanah postcards into fruition in Germany and Poland to benefit the influx of patrons in America and Latin America who understood Yiddish.
Haim (Haggai) Goldberg, who was born circa 1888 in Lukow, Poland and perished in the Bialystok Ghetto in 1943, is remembered as a prominent Jewish Polish illustrator, graphic designer, photographer, and printer, in addition to a Hebrew and Yiddish poet and writer. He is also remembered as an amateur painter. He studied in a yeshiva and later opened a photography studio in Warsaw in 1912. Then was appointed by the Yehudiya publishing house under the Yiddish daily Haynt as a graphic designer of greeting cards and postcards. Goldberg was popular for creating his own style. Operating from his studio, he created scenes featuring amateur actors wearing traditional attire. Then he further applied his talents through painting and graphics to incorporate illustrated elements, and also featured his original Yiddish rhymed greetings.
Shalom Sabar, a Jewish art and folklore professor, regards Goldberg as a most significant Rosh Hashanah card designer, who pursued his talents in the early 20th century. Shana Tovah, 5786!
