Antique & Vintage Postcards

Dozens of glowing Japanese paper lanterns — round, cylindrical, gourd-shaped, and faceted — hang in luminous clusters against a velvety August night at the Methodist Camp Meeting Grounds in Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, where the annual tradition of Illumination Night has transformed the gingerbread-cottage community into a fairyland of color since 1869. Silhouettes of onlookers press forward beneath the warm halos of orange, amber, cream, and rose light; the angular roofline of a camp-meeting cottage is just visible above the lanterns, anchoring this magical scene in its historic Victorian setting. The tradition began when a returning camper strung Chinese lanterns to celebrate the end of the season, and the custom spread cottage to cottage until the entire grounds shimmered — a ritual that continues to this day, drawing thousands each August and making this one of New England's most beloved summer spectacles. Photographer Leon Sarin captured this Kodachrome image for the Sarin's shop on Circuit Avenue, Oak Bluffs — a hyper-local publication that makes this card a genuine piece of island ephemera.