Antique & Vintage Postcards

Beneath a brilliant cerulean sky, the exact replica of a medieval Belgian Gothic church rises in brick and pale stone at Chicago's 1933 Century of Progress World's Fair — the Belgian national flag snapping proudly from its pole beside the arched entrance where a smartly dressed couple pauses, dwarfed by the soaring lancet windows and twin blue-capped turrets. This linen-textured card, published by the Arena Photo Post Card Co. of Chicago, documents one of the Fair's most charming attractions: the Belgian Village, where the illusion of old Bruges or Ghent was conjured on the Lake Michigan shore, complete with dog-drawn milk carts and folk dancers performing in the main square. The reverse carries a full printed description of the village's features and the bold imprint "Chicago World's Fair, 1933." Unused, bright, and clean — a quintessential souvenir of the "Century of Progress."