Boring Postcards

One of my favorite art books is a collection of ephemera gathered by Magnum photographer Martin Parr. In is own work, Parr is well known for being able to pull the sublime out of the mundane with playful sense of humor, so it makes sense that as a hobby he has collected the worst of postcards. To date he has compiled three books out of them: Boring Postcards, Boring Postcards USA and Langweilige Postkarten.

This trilogy of self-explanatory titles are a delight to peruse (read an in-depth review of the books here), and it is especially refreshing that Parr doesn't bother to try and over- analyze their artistic merit (however, you can listen to a marvelous discussion on the past and history of amateur photography with Parr here). In fact, he doesn't write anything at all about the postcards. You are just to look upon them and feel, erm, bored. 

Flickr also has a pool of Boring Postcards, though the term seems rather loosely defined by its users. While this pool features some fine examples of postcards with the utter dullness of Parr's examples, it also has too many postcards of historical buildings (often quite pretty if not interestingly photographed) and postcards that are merely "old". In other words, not nearly unexceptional enough. Besides, how could anyone possibly define a maggot salesman postcard as "boring"?

This slight disconnect got me to thinking: what is it that makes a postcard boring?
Certainly there is the composition: bland, flat shots of rather uninteresting subjects. However, it isn't a lack of "art" that truly yanks an image into dullsville. It's that sad feeling that it gives you inside. Not only does someone think you need to celebrate this moment/place/advertisement/emptiness, but that you will want to relive it for a lifetime, keep a picture of it, and share it with friends.

To illustrate, here are some from my collection:

Del-Ray Motel, w miles west of City on Rt. 40. Indianapolis, Indiana.

Follow the jump for more boring images.

Garrard Milner, 4047 S Carrollton Ave at Tulane. "South's Largest Chevrolet Dealer".

Imperial Casket Co. Model #5, The Bel-Air Colonial Deluxe.
"All the Warmth that Wood Can Give."

Left: Horseshoe Curve in Williams Canon, near Manitou Springs in the Pikes Peak Region, Colorado.
Right: Icelandic National Costume

Bourbon Street Beauty, New Orleans, Louisiana

Rocky the Elf and friends greet visitors at beautiful Rock City Gardens, Georgia.

The beautiful styling of this 14 oz. Cup makes other decoration unnecessary.

Hill Top Cafe, the most popular eating spot around. Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.

Glass House Restaurant, Will Rogers Turnpike. Travelers from all over are amazed, and enjoy their stop at this modernistic Restaurant, Cafeteria, and Gift Shop. Midway between Tulsa, Oklahoma and Joplin, Missouri.

Every Day - Hot dishes - Cool sparkling salads - World's finest smorgasbord service. Fine food and gracious dining without extravagance. Locations in Florida and Naperville, Illinois.

Bangor International Airport, Maine. This airport provides a major link to many overseas flights. The airstrip is one of the longest in the East (11,400').

These two cards are bordering on exciting, but still manage to be so bleak that they are pushed back down to boring.

Claire Danes is, well, she's a celebrity! And there she is on the red carpet...or maybe she was at some point. It's hard to tell because she's been overexposed by some bright lights, photoshopped out of her surroundings, and the background has been replaced by a bad digital effect. Add all that together and this is a good example of a modern day vision of bland.

As for Texas Chili...that card may be he best one I've ever had the privilege of receiving via the US Mail. Despite the presence of a chimp in cowboy clothes (!), the cheap cafeteria dishes, abundance of napkins, and disgusting looking chili negate the very statement this humorous card is trying to make. Indeed, that monkey looks like he wants nothing to do with any of it.

Golden Hours Motel, 11080 W. Colfax, Denver. New Ultra Modern Units - Air Conditioned by Refrigeration - Tiled Combination Shower and Tub - Phones in Rooms - Heated Swimming Pool.

I found this last postcard in a stack of random things at a used bookstore in Boston and realized that this was the very motel where I had spent my prom night in 1989.

I had double dated with a good friend, and we all decided well in advance that post-prom motel rooms would be the "cool" thing to do. We were turned away by our first choice, the "Bugs Bunny Motel", before ending up here. We rented two rooms next to each other. My friend's girlfriend had lived out of state for the past year or so, and they hadn't seen each other in a long time. Even so, I thought they were doing the same thing my girlfriend and I were doing next door (maybe without the whipped cream), but the next day I found out that they had sat in their room in silence and listened to us have sex.

At the time this creeped me out, but my girlfriend, bless her heart, said that it just made her sad to think about these people who used to be in love just sitting there and not understanding each other anymore. Even though this postcard is from the 60s (when this motel was super-modern and not a dump where high school kids went to get laid), my heart goes out to that room all the way back behind the office and under the stairs, where two nerdy high school kids are listening to the sex in the next room and wishing they were still attracted each other.

In other words - even boring postcards tell a story.

Comments

[Listener_Paul]

I would say three of those post cards are really boring. The Smorgasbord restaurant, the restaurant in Truth or Consequence NM, and the Chevy dealer. Maybe Bangor airport. The others elicit some non-bored response from me. Creeped out, sadness, a feeling of alienation perhaps, but not bored. I guess it is all pretty subjective.

[Jonathan Steinke]

I thought I knew that Del Ray Motel postcard from somewhere--Liquid TV "Dear Mum" segments!! Cool.

[ReturnTicketMusic]

There is something truly amazing and "boring" photography. But then again, I do love my documentary photography.
____
New York music blog: www.returnticketmusic.com

[Torgo]

I believe there is a totally hidden culture in this world of people who actually occupy (and consume in) what we might call "BoringSpace" -- maybe the same people who are in Ben Katchor cartoons.

Anyway, the Del Ray photo qualifies as boring. Most of the others are kitschy but not boring. I think the Claire Danes there probably came from a wax museum, no? She's got that glazed look... But maybe she just has, well, a glazed look.

Anyway, I'm glad someone understands why these Boring Postcards books are so brilliant.

[Sir Michael L. Foley]

I love these sorts of things. I will have to look up those books. The only postcard that strikes me as truly boring is the donuts and coffee one. The rest are, at the very least, glimpses into a past that no longer exists.

[Listener_Paul]

I find the Del Ray Motel postcard far from boring. Indeed, I find it compelling. I want to know more about that motel room, and the people who might stay there, and why is the portly man in the photo? The bare checkerboard tile floor and the phone permanently attached to the cinderblock wall say this is not a place for people with many other options. Yet all is not lost...there are little luxuries, the room is small, but clean and neat....

[Less Lee]

That Chevrolet dealer postcard is anything but boring to me. For one, I don't ever remember seeing it in New Orleans, so it must've predated me. And secondly, that particular intersection was decimated after Katrina. It also housed Thrift City (since moved to Gretna) and Rock and Bowl (which may have reopened since). I find stuff like that fascinating. I guess I'm just fascinated by the boring!

[pat]

To me the Del-Ray hotel is cool as hell and exciting!

[pat]

I also like those old people in the Bourbon Street Beauty card off to the left looking at the almost naked chic. Hilarious!

[Kim Scarborough]

Ha, okay, if you like those, you have to check out these postcards I got at a show last year:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kim_scarborough/1024588122/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kim_scarborough/944790703/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kim_scarborough/1023726235/

[Account Deleted]

Kim: The first postcard of Steak made me squeal with delight. I dunno, there's something about disturbing photos of meat that I really enjoy.

[mandi]

haha, the "glass house" is now a mcdonalds! the town it's in claims that it's the largest mcdonalds in the world, but its not at all lol. I've eaten there so many times.

[postcardy]

Actually I find most of your examples interesting. For more about my ideas of boring and non-boring see
http://www.postcardy.com/article03.html and http://postcardy.blogspot.com/2008/01/boring-postcard-from-wahoo.html

Maybe I'm a twisted person, but I find most of these cards pretty hilarious and entertaining; more so than anything with actual artistic merit. Mostly for the fact that someone said "hey, let's put this on a post card." and thought it was a good idea.

[Michael Allen]

A lot of "boring postcards" like the motel ones and probably the car dealer were (still are) free at the business. They were already too boring then to actually pay for.

Of course one element of what makes them not boring to us today is the history in that one picture. The Del Ray room may look boring today, but in 1957 (just guessing) family income was lower. Probably one-income. The people renting that motel room on a road trip with their kids went through WWII and the Depression. They didn't have credit cards, so it wasn't so easy to blow a bunch of extra money on a room for the night. The Interstate highway system was new. Motels were new. TV's were relatively new. They were on a road trip vacation their parents weren't able to go on with them when they were kids. It's all in the story in the postcard.

Then of course, there's the naivete. Why didn't the fat guy, no doubt the owner, think a more attractive person might work better in a photo? He was the owner and host and proud of his business and just didn't think that way. Why didn't someone think to at least even up the bedspreads and cover up the leg and wheel on the one bed? Lack of the visual orientation everyone would have today?

Oh, by the way, a motel like that could be built with just painted concrete blocks, but those look like much more expensive glazed blocks or maybe glazed tile over whatever. Extra hygenic! Easy to clean!

Oh - the Golden Hours Motel photo is from the mid 50's, not sixties. No doubt right after the place opened. That's a 1956 Cadillac, and no car in the photo is newer.