Vintage Palm Springs Postcard Display

This free exhibit offers a self-guided opportunity to examine a collection of Stephen Willard postcards on display in the main room of the historic Welwood Murray Memorial Library.

Willard printed his black and white photographs in large format, then hand-colored them with oil paint. He worked with colorists at the Curt Teich Company in Chicago to produce color postcard images on linen paper, which were then mass produced. The postcards on display date from the 1930s to the 1950s and were sold by the thousands—in galleries and shops throughout Palm Springs for a nickel each. Royalties from postcard sales allowed Willard and his wife to travel to Africa and South America when they retired.