Why early Alaska postcards are special
The Klondike gold rush of the late 1890s, just across the border in Canada's Yukon, sent tens of thousands of prospectors through Alaska's ports, and the Nome gold rush that followed brought thousands more to the territory's western coast. Towns appeared almost overnight, and photographers followed. Because the population was small and the conditions hard, far fewer postcards were made than in the lower states, and fewer survived. Early Alaska real photos are therefore scarce, and collectors of Alaska, the gold rush and the frontier compete for them.
Gold camps and boom towns
Postcards show mining camps, sluices and dredges, prospectors with their gear, and the muddy main streets of boom towns lined with saloons, outfitters and hotels. Views of Skagway, the gateway to the White Pass trail, and of Nome's beach diggings are well known; smaller camps are scarcer.
The Inside Passage
Steamships carried passengers and freight up the Inside Passage from Seattle, calling at Ketchikan, Wrangell, Juneau, Sitka and Skagway. Postcards of steamers, landings, glaciers and coastal towns were popular with travelers, and early real photos of ships at the docks interest maritime collectors as well as Alaska collectors.
Canneries and fishing
Salmon canning was one of Alaska's great industries, and real photo cards of canneries, fishing fleets and workers document it. These occupational cards are collected by fishing and industrial history enthusiasts.
Railroads and transport
The White Pass and Yukon Route railroad, built from Skagway at the turn of the century, and the Alaska Railroad, built later, were photographed under construction and in operation. Dog teams, sternwheelers on the Yukon River and early bush transport also appear.
Native Alaskan subjects
Many early cards depicted Native Alaskan people, villages and carved poles, often as tourist curiosities. Collectors and historians treat these as historical documents, and some are significant records of communities and cultural objects.
Territory to statehood
Alaska remained a territory until statehood in 1959, and postcards span that whole period. Linen and chrome cards from the mid-century document the growth of Anchorage and Fairbanks, the Alaska Highway and wartime bases.
What is common
Later chrome tourist cards of glaciers, mountains, wildlife and cruise ports were produced in large numbers and are modest in value.
Alaska cards in a collection
Alaska cards often turn up in collections from the Pacific Northwest, or in albums of families with a relative who went north. Early real photos deserve close attention, and I look for them first.
Places and subjects to look for
- Skagway and the White Pass: the gateway to the Klondike, with its trail, railroad and boom-town streets.
- Nome: beach mining, dredges and the town that grew from the 1899 to 1900 rush.
- Juneau and the Gastineau Channel: gold mines and mills, the waterfront and steamers.
- Fairbanks and the Interior: gold camps, river steamers and the town's early streets.
- Southeast towns: Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg and Sitka, with their canneries, docks and fishing fleets.
- Transportation: dog teams, sternwheelers, the White Pass and Yukon Route, and the Alaska Railroad.
Why condition is forgiven on early Alaska cards
Many early Alaska postcards traveled hard: carried in packs, mailed from remote camps, stored in damp cabins. Collectors understand this. For scarce early real photos, they will accept wear that would sink a common printed view, because a better copy of the same image may never surface. That is one more reason never to discard a worn early card.
More questions
Are Klondike postcards the same as Alaska postcards? The Klondike is in Canada's Yukon, but many gold rush cards show the Alaska route through Skagway, and collectors often pursue both.
Are early Alaska real photos rare? Many are scarce, because the population was small and fewer cards were made and survived.
Should I keep Alaska cards separate from the rest? No need. Describe the whole collection, and mention any early Alaska cards so I can look closely.
Questions about Alaska postcards
Are gold rush postcards valuable? Early real photos of camps and boom towns are among the more valuable Alaska cards, especially identified views in good condition.
Are Alaska postcards from the 1950s worth anything? Most chromes are common; scarce towns and subjects are more interesting.
Do you buy collections that include Alaska postcards? Yes, as complete collections, by mail.
Photographers on the frontier
Photography in early Alaska was a demanding trade. Photographers carried heavy cameras over passes and up rivers, developed negatives in cold, cramped darkrooms and sold prints and postcards to miners and travelers who wanted to show the folks at home what the north was like. Many worked only a few seasons before moving on. That short, intense period of work is why early Alaska views are so varied and so scarce, and why identified views by working photographers of the gold rush era interest collectors of photographic history as well as Alaska history.
Are Alaska cannery postcards valuable? Real photos of canneries and fishing crews are collected by maritime and industrial history enthusiasts.
Do Alaska collectors want later territorial cards too? Yes. Cards from the 1920s to the 1950s of smaller towns, roadhouses and wartime construction are collected, though less avidly than gold rush views.