James E. Mason

Wichita (Postcard History) James E. Mason

Wichita, Kansas, was founded in 1870 as a small frontier cow town. By 1900, after having gone through one of the most remarkable real estate boom-and-bust cycles in US history, it had become the largest city in the state and a regional hub of commerce. Wichita flourished between 1900 and 1940, and its population quadrupled as it became a world leader in aircraft production. Picture postcards were introduced just as Wichita entered this latter phase of development, and the colorful new form of communication amply documented Wichitas history during those years.