Dec 17, 1893 High & Church from Primrose Hill

Dec 17, 1893 High & Church from Primrose Hill

Dec 17, 1893 High & Church from Primrose Hill Notes:Negative cracked on lower right corner. This view is looking down Primrose hill toward the Belfast business district. The street forks with Church Street going straight and High Street bearing to the left. The building in the fork is the long-time home of the Eastern Illustrating and Publishing Co. In 1909, R. Herman Cassens, a young entrepreneur, started the postcard company in the mid-coast town of Belfast, Maine. Postcards have always been a popular item, especially for travelers, but at the turn of the century they were the absolute rage. At a time when the telephone was not an integral part of the American household and email was still nearly a century away, postcards provided both a visual and written link, whether from across town or across the country. Cassens saw a niche between personal/amateur postcards and the mass-produced postcards available in the bigger cities. He had a dream of "Photographing the Transcontinental Trail-Maine to California," focusing on small rural towns and villages. He and his small crew of photographers traveled through rural New England and New York focusing their lenses on locally known landmarks, street scenes, country stores and businesses, events and people. The exposed glass plate negatives were sent back to the "factory" in Belfast where they were processed, printed and sent back to the general stores for sale at "2 for 5 cents." Unlike the mass produced variety, EIP's postcards were the type known as "real photo postcards" meaning they were actual photographic prints, products of the chemical reaction caused by light onto a light-sensitive surface. Cassens sold his business in 1947 and died in 1948. Though his dream of photographing all 48 states was not realized, his company did manage to make over 40,000 glass plate negatives of New England and New York between 1909 and 1947. Behind the Eastern Illustrating building is the North Congregational Church which later became the American Legion Hall when the congregation of the church reunited with the First Church, having split many years before due to differences in religious philosophy. Behind that, the roof of the court house (with cupola) can be seen and further down High Street the steeple of the Baptist Church is visible The dog posing at the intersection is Charles Coombs' dog "Victor".