From telegram to instagram

White House, East Front, Washington

The White House has been the home of the Presidents from the time of John Adams to the present. Washington selected the site, laid the cornerstone in 1792, and with his wife inspected the finished building in 1799. The building is of Virginia freestone. After the house had been fired by British troops in 1814, and only the walls were left standing, the restored exterior was painted white to obliterate the marks of the fire.
Copyright, B. S. Reynolds

This one is unposted and doesn't have a date on the copyright so I'm not sure where it's from. A quick online search doesn't give me a lot of architectural context either but I'm sure someone on the internet knows. If that is you, thanks for reading and please comment.

Besides people like me who buy these post cards for memory's sake, I'm not really sure what the market is for these in gift shops. But back in the day people would send these to let their loved ones know about their travels. Like Instagram. But slower. And with fewer filters. But also like telegram, but faster and fewer stops.

I've started buying these to send to friends, which scratches a similar itch to posting online about my travels. Note to folks who do the same: you can buy postcard stamps which are cheaper than regular stamps.