Greetings from Rehoboth Beach
When we moved to Rehoboth Beach from Baltimore in 2017, we had no idea that we would become so immersed in local history. We began volunteering at the Rehoboth Beach Museum shortly after we settled into our new home, but it never occurred to us that we would co-author a book to be published by the Rehoboth Beach Museum.
The idea for this project came about as part of a brainstorming session about commemorating the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Rehoboth Camp Meeting Association of the Methodist Episcopal Church, an event that is considered the beginning of Rehoboth Beach. Recognizing our appreciation for vintage postcards, and our work cataloging a significant postcard collection that was donated to the museum, Director Nancy Alexander approached us about writing a book featuring postcards from the museum’s collection.
At first, we were less than enthusiastic about the idea. Neither of us had any prior experience in writing or designing a book. We both had experience from our professional careers with writing business correspondence or reports, and David had written articles and book reviews for professional journals, but a book would require a level of commitment and responsibility that we weren’t sure we could accept.
As collectors of antiques and collectibles, we each have specific interest areas, but postcards are a common element in both of our personal collections. Roland in particular has an impressive collection of postcards related to Rehoboth Beach, so the book idea held some appeal for us. Then a coincidental ‘find’ at a local auction helped seal the deal: several real-photo postcards, published locally between 1905 and 1907.
That spurred us to dig deeper into the history of postcard publishing in Rehoboth Beach, a natural tie-in to the concept of a book presenting the best examples from the museum’s collection. Once we were committed to the project, our goal was to develop a definitive book about Rehoboth Beach postcards and the people who created them.
From the outset, we needed to review and select cards that would be visually appealing, perhaps previously unpublished, and representative of various periods in the development of Rehoboth Beach as a popular destination. Rather than present postcard images alone, we felt it important to include a narrative to identify names, dates, locations, and key events to provide a context for Rehoboth Beach during the time the postcards were issued or used. This information was gleaned from hours of research using archival resources in the museum, and from online resources, newspaper databases, and books by local and national publishers. We also realized that the information we were finding about local photographers and postcard publishers would be an important addition to the book.
For an organizational structure, we realized that the evolution of Rehoboth Beach was closely aligned with defined periods of change in the postcard industry. Picture postcards were first introduced in the US between 1900 and 1905, hitting their greatest popularity in what is known as “The Golden Age” of postcards: 1905-1915. Our book includes examples from all five defined postcard ‘eras,’ beginning in 1905 up to and including cards as recent as this year, representing a period of well over 100 years!
Rehoboth was fortunate to have a family-owned business, Horn Pavilion, operating at Rehoboth Avenue and the Boardwalk soon after 1900. The Pavilion offered a range of services and amusements for visitors and quickly became the center of attraction in Rehoboth. Among its services was a full-service photography studio, which became a source for many of the earliest postcards in the museum collection.
In another fortunate coincidence, while we were working on the book, a significant donation of postcards came to the museum from Judge James G. Horn, a descendant of the original owners of the Horn Pavilion. The donation included some of the earliest examples of Rehoboth Beach postcards.
If you have an interest in Rehoboth Beach history or early postcards from the area, you are sure to enjoy this book. It also might be a perfect solution for gift-giving. All proceeds from the sale of this book will go to support the programs and activities of the Rehoboth Beach Historical Society and Museum.▼
The book was released in late-June and is available at the Rehoboth Beach Museum Gift Shop, 511 Rehoboth Avenue, and online at rehobothbeachmuseum.org.
Roland Forster and David McDonald are both retired and have lived in Rehoboth Beach since 2017. They have been friends since 2013 and married in 2019. This is their first experience writing a book.