Postcards and glimpses of old Manila at the Rizal Library

"It was a time of great change for the Philippines," writes author and avid postcard collector Jonathan Best of the turn of the last century.

 

With the opening of the Manila Hotel in 1912 the tourist industry officially began and both foreigners and locals bought and sent postcards by the hundreds of thousands. From Mountain Province and Luzon, to the Visayas and Jolo the whole nation was suddenly on display, he says.

These days, hardly anyone makes the time to send a postcard. The idea of a postcard fad may seem strange now, but over one hundred years ago, it swept the world. Portable cameras, cheap postal rates and the birth of international tourism set the stage for hand colored picture postcards, which eventually made their appearance in the Philippines.

 

Best writes that the phenomenon coincided with the arrival of thousands of American military personnel and colonial administrators in the Philippines in 1898. Eager to bring their memories back home, they became a ready market for Philippine postcards.

 

Photographers would take black and white pictures of the Philippine’s most famous landmarks, beautiful and exotic sights. Then they would transform these images into color postcards by applying hand-made lithographic plates for the color. Best notes that these were the days before movies, television or even color photography.

 

A small collection of these old picture postcards was preserved in the Rafel Ortigas Jr. collection, and is currently on exhibit at the Rizal Library Special Collections Building at Ateneo de Manila University.

"Postcards from Our Past" attempts to show what life was like at the end of the Spanish era in the Philippines and the first years of the American period - when Intramuros was a center of activity, its Spanish walls and gates intact and its many churches and ancient convents still standing. Beyond the walls of Intramuros, business flourished in Binondo and on the Escolta. Meanwhile, the newly arrived Americans were busy laying out modern markets, boulevards, parks, hotels and neoclassical government buildings.

 

On February 10, local historian John Silva will give a lecture in line with this exhibit. Called "Glimpses of Old Manila," the talk will be held at 2 p.m. at the Pardo de Tavera Room, Level 3 Rizal Library Special Collections Building, Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights, Quezon City. You may reserve seats in advance as there are limited seats available. For more information, you may call 426 6488 or email at ijaucian@ateneo.edu.

 

"Postcards from Our Past" is sponsored by the Ortigas Foundation Library which holds over 20,000 books, photographs and documents on Philippine history and culture. The Library is open to the public Monday through Saturday, 9 am to 6 pm, and is located on the Second Floor of the Ortigas Building, corner Ortigas and Meralco Aves., Pasig City 1605. Tel. (632) 631-1231 loc. 228 

 

www.ortigasfoundationlibrary.com.ph Press release and photos from Ateneo de Manila University