Hollywood, 1900-1950, in Vintage Postcards

Book excerpt: With the advent of new, inexpensive photographic technology emerging in the United States during the mid-19th century, communication by postcard became a very popular way to exchange travel stories, news, and gossip over the decades. Drawing on a private collection of vintage postcards, this new book features a history of Hollywood, spanning half a century. Exploring Hollywood before and after it became the entertainment capital of the world, these images offer readers a glimpse of some of the city's most interesting places during its Golden Years. Long before motion pictures arrived, when the area was a residential neighborhood of beautiful homes and lemon groves, Hollywood was just another suburb of Los Angeles striving to become a community. From the familiar sights of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and the ChinesTheater, to the horse-and-buggy driven dirt roads and pineapple fields at the turn of the century, Hollywood in Vintage Postcards will guide the curious through the city's progress in the first half of the 20th century.