Photochrom Travel Views
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A love of travel inspires so many photos on Flickr that we hope you'll enjoy taking a century-old "grand tour." Our Photochrom Print Collection shows Europe, the Middle East, and Canada as they appeared around 1890-1900. We started at the top of the world with Norway, Sweden, and Denmark in January. We added Scotland to the set in April. We'll add more countries gradually.
To see all 6,500 pictures now, check out the Photochrom Print Collection at the Library of Congress, http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp. pgz
What's a photochrom?
Published primarily from the 1890s to 1910s, these prints were created by the Photoglob Company in Zürich, Switzerland, and the Detroit Publishing Company in Michigan. The richly colored images look like photographs but are actually ink-based photolithographs, usually 6.5 x 9 inches. Plenty more info at http://www.loc.gov/pictures/co llection/pgz/process.html.
Like postcards, the photochroms feature subjects that appeal to travelers, including landscapes, architecture, street scenes, and daily life and culture. The prints were sold as souvenirs and often collected in albums or framed for display.
The Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division assembled its collection from two sources that provided prints in mint condition. In 1985, the prints of Europe and the Middle East were purchased from the Galerie Muriset in Switzerland. In 2004, Howard L. Gottlieb generously donated the North American views.
Additional photochroms can be found in the online collections of the Zurich Central Library, www.zb.unizh.ch/ and other archives.
P.S. Language and spelling hazards.
Your addition of current place names is much appreciated! Some locations have changed names or even countries since 1900. And, the titles we had to work with from the photochrom publishers based in Detroit and Zurich tended to be English or German versions of the place names.
1,286 photos | 301,229 views
Comments on this set
BigBean says:these are wonderful. |
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Harry Angstrom says:fabulous, thanks for sharing these. |
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Darien Chin says:What an awesome set!! Took me back in time. I loved wandering around in these photos... |
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*BOJ* says:I had no idea these existed. Thanks a lot for sharing. |
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August Adrial says:Wow! One of the best photosets i've ever seen! Thanks! |
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trialsanderrors says:Such a great series, I've been a long-time fan. I hope you also plan to make the American postcards available, especially the ones that haven't been scanned recently. |
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Des Brady says:This is an astonishing archive |
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Lú_ says:The colour produced by the photochrom process is remarkable. Was it a process specific to the Photoglob Company, or were other companies able to do this as well? |
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BobMeade says:I was not expecting these photochroms to be this sharp and this beautiful. |
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The Library of Congress says:At least two companies licensed rights to print the photochrom process from Photoglob--the Detroit Publishing Co. in the U.S. and the Photochrom Co. in London, England. Hopefully we'll hear from other libraries with photochrom collections and may learn about other publishers. |
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Velurajah UK says:Beautiful capture absolutely lovely ! Well done!! |
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lesscrafted says:Absolutely divine set~~ having spent much time there I can only tell you there I can only tell you that it is still as beautiful (however much more grown up the area might be) and my heart longs to be there. |
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My Symbiosis [deleted] says:My people are from Scandinavia, so I am taking particular delight in peeking through this door into the past, and what a beautiful past it is. |
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kmhinkle says:Love love love it. Thank you so much for posting! |
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phunkstarr says:For a Norwegian, these are invaluable! Thanks so much for posting these!! |
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bjorg.nord says:Fantastic to find these old photos from where I spent my childhood! |
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phunkstarr says:bjorg.nord: depending on where you are in Norway, they still are ;) |
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Motive - / - Roy M. says:Interesting photos --- Thank you for sharing. |
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mortenklevis says:Fantastic photos! Thanks for sharing them here on flickr! |
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Look Homeward, Harlot says:These are astonishingly beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing them! |
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vidalia_11 says:I love the Detroit Publishing Co. and these images! |
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n . z b i k says:i love old photos! thank you for sharing this beautiful set! |
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krycheńka says:Absolutely amazing set !! Thanks for sharing ! |
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Radoslav_ says:Amazing and beautiful! Thank you for sharing this! |
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j.hietter says:Wow. This is like a window into another world. SO COOL. |
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StefanLarssonPhotos says:Thanks so much for sharing these. The LoC sure is a treasure. |
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green_lover says:This is absolutely amazing set! Thanks for sharing all of these fantastic photos. Watching them is like a real travel in time :) |
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Rob&Monika says:Thanks for making these available. They are incredibly beautiful. I am surprised though, that the photochromes aren't classified by country considering they belong to the LOC. |
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¡TK! says:a gorgeous set. i couldn't believe how much detail there was in these, either! this is sure to become a hot new look on flickr. |
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ernamarcus says:beautiful set. Just makes one realize how many great photographers worked NOT in digital format! |
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nigarhikmet says:This is absolutely amazing set,thanks for sharing!!! |
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NasimNaghibi says:Amazing & beautiful collection... |
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Dibujos Manolo Lopez Carrillo says:really really wonderfool material, its amazing that something like that is possible, each government should do something like that, such a big amount of information!! |
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Salentino2010 says:fabulous material, thanks for sharing these collection. |
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hipydeus says:Incredible, outstanding photography here! |
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ariel7515 says:O_O Thanks for sharing!!! :) |
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Nasim H C says:very nice pictures, simply mind blowing! |
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Jenny Rainbow says:A GREAT thank you for this stunning set! Absolutely unique collection! Keep it up! |
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Evening* says:LOVE this set...thank you so much, I put my arms around the LOC! |
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trialsanderrors says:Will this set eventually be completed on Flickr? I believe most of France is still missing, amongst many other places. |
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The Library of Congress says:@trialsanderrors: We're working on it! France is a good suggestion for the next country -- we have about 600 prints. The largest countries to add are England, Germany, and Switzerland. |
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BigBean says:Yay for adding England, Germany and Switzerland! |
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trialsanderrors says: I'm looking forward to it ... and I think I can add a few corrections, especially to the French set. And yes, the Arqué book is an amazing resource, both for the history and the technology of photochroms! |
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Flussreiter says:Love this series of pics... |
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Million Seven says:-Fabulous Collection! |
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istar-famiredo says:Really wonderful set!!!! I love it!!! |
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Zoar3 says:Beautiful place |
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Conoetais says:wonderful! thanks for the share. |
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fotoviva says:I love the tones and hues in these photos, some stunning landscape scenery too! |
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Jenice Benjamin says:I really envy you. |