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Vintage Postcards Show Life in Vietnam in the Early 20th Century

Categories: East Asia, Vietnam, History, Travel
Ha Long Bay is now a famous tourism destination and UNESCO World Heritage Site. Photo from The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1900 - 1909. [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.

Hanoi Théâtre, Rue Paul-Bert. Photo from The New York Public Library Digital Collections [5]

Hanoi Théâtre, Rue Paul-Bert. Photo from The New York Public Library Digital Collections

Tiger caught and killed in a trap. Photo from The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1909 [6]

Tiger caught and killed in a trap. Photo from The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1909

A wagon in a Saigon road. Photo from The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1908 [7]

A wagon in a Saigon road. Photo from The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1908

A Cantilever bridge in Hanoi. Photo from The New York Public Library Digital Collections [8]

A Cantilever bridge in Hanoi. Photo from The New York Public Library Digital Collections

Saigon Opera House. Photo from The New York Public Library Digital Collections, 1910 [9]

Saigon Opera House. Photo from The New York Public Library Digital Collections, 1910

The silver chariot of the Chetties. A religious procession in Vietnam. Photo from The New York Public Library Digital Collections [10]

The silver chariot of the Chetties. A religious procession in Vietnam. Photo from The New York Public Library Digital Collections

A houseboat in a river in Nam Dinh province. 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

Vietnamese children in Saigon. Photo from The New York Public Library Digital Collections [12]

Vietnamese children in Saigon. Photo from The New York Public Library Digital Collections

Nam-Dinh Pier. Photo from The New York Public Library Digital Collections, 1911 [13]

Nam-Dinh Pier. Photo from The New York Public Library Digital Collections, 1911

Log rafts in Tuyen-Quang province. Photo from The New York Public Library Digital Collections, 1900 - 1909. [14]

Log rafts in Tuyen-Quang province. Photo from The New York Public Library Digital Collections, 1900 – 1909.