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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 | 296,634 views
Comments on this set
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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
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Des Brady says:This is an astonishing archive |
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Lú_
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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
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Velurajah UK
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lesscrafted
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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
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phunkstarr
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bjorg.nord says:Fantastic to find these old photos from where I spent my childhood! |
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phunkstarr
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Motive - / - Roy M.
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mortenklevis
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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
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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_
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j.hietter
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StefanLarssonPhotos says:Thanks so much for sharing these. The LoC sure is a treasure. |
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green_lover
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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
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nigarhikmet
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NasimNaghibi says:Amazing & beautiful collection... |
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Dibujos Manolo Lopez Carrillo
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Salentino2010 says:fabulous material, thanks for sharing these collection. |
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hipydeus
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ariel7515
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Nasim H C says:very nice pictures, simply mind blowing! |
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Jenny Rainbow
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Evening*
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trialsanderrors
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The Library of Congress
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BigBean says:Yay for adding England, Germany and Switzerland! |
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trialsanderrors
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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. |