Before the internet, facebook, instagram and the seemingly infinite iterations of modern social media existed- postcards were the medium of choice to share your adventures and vacations with friends and family.

Who doesn’t remember the racks of postcards to be found in every drugstore and souvenir shop in every beach town? Post cards were cheap and easily mailed with just a stamp and a few scribbled lines to torment your snowbound relatives with images of the sun, beaches, bikinis and of course surfers.

 

Postcards were meant to be quickly produced and distributed, then just as quickly forgotten once they had served their purpose. Like Facebook today not much thought was given to the historical importance of postcards. Fortunately for us postcard collecting has become popular as a hobby and museums preserve and archive them  for posterity. Even though these images were made for the non-surfing public,  they give us a snapshot of surfing when it was a new and cool novelty. It also reminds us that, every time you paddle out, surfing is just as cool now as it was back then.

Thanks to Daniel Torres for researching the Ada E. Parrish Postcards Collection of the Florida Historical Society.