[1]Ha Long Bay is now a famous tourism destination and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Photo from The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1900 – 1909.
On January 6, 2016, the New York Public Library announced [2] that more than 180,000 digitized items are now part of its public domain collection. This means online readers can access and download a treasure trove of rare, archived materials for free. Aside from this, the library [3] is encouraging the public to explore the digital collection and remix [4] the materials in order to create and share new content.
Part of the digital archive are old postcards from the Asia-Pacific region of the world showing how people lived in the then-colonized countries. Some of these postcards featured Vietnam during the French colonial rule in the early 1900s. The postcards provide a rare glimpse of Vietnamese landscapes, indigenous traditions, commerce, and life in colonial city centers. Take a look.
[5]Hanoi Théâtre, Rue Paul-Bert. Photo from The New York Public Library Digital Collections
[6]Tiger caught and killed in a trap. Photo from The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1909
[7]A wagon in a Saigon road. Photo from The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1908
[8]A Cantilever bridge in Hanoi. Photo from The New York Public Library Digital Collections
[9]Saigon Opera House. Photo from The New York Public Library Digital Collections, 1910
[10]The silver chariot of the Chetties. A religious procession in Vietnam. Photo from The New York Public Library Digital Collections
[11]A houseboat in a river in Nam Dinh province. Photo from The New York Public Library Digital Collections
[12]Vietnamese children in Saigon. Photo from The New York Public Library Digital Collections
[13]Nam-Dinh Pier. Photo from The New York Public Library Digital Collections, 1911
[14]Log rafts in Tuyen-Quang province. Photo from The New York Public Library Digital Collections, 1900 – 1909.