Antique & Vintage Postcards

Bare autumn branches frame the columned Greek Revival portico of Trenton's First Presbyterian Church in this intimate 1906 black-and-white card — one of New Jersey's oldest Presbyterian congregations, its Federal-era architecture a quiet counterpoint to the industrial city growing around it. Published by H.T. Eisenberg of 205 East State Street, Trenton, this is a locally produced card of the kind that rarely survives in quantity, making it a modest rarity for New Jersey topographical collectors. The message written across the face is a moving domestic fragment: a woman named Alya writes to her friend Nellie to announce she has moved to 829 Roebling Avenue, explaining she missed a visit because "we are all upset" — the quotidian upheaval of a household move captured in pencil on a church postcard, mailed September 8, 1906.