Dundee: The Postcard Collection

Dundee is a modern city with a long history. It became a royal burgh in the late twelfth century, but the town itself long predates this, and human settlement in the area can be traced back many hundreds of years earlier. In its eight centuries of official existence, Dundee has been a medieval burgh subjected to invasion and conflict, a thriving seaport and centre of trade, and a booming industrial town known worldwide for its ‘Jute, Jam and Journalism’. It officially became a city in 1889 and, shortly after this, began to be documented by the medium of the picture postcard.


In many ways Dundee can be considered the home of the picture postcard. In the early years of the twentieth century when the craze for them was at its height, Valentines of Dundee was the world’s largest producer of postcards and their closest Scottish rival J. B. White Limited was also a local firm. Many photographs were taken for postcard production in Dundee and these images have become an invaluable historic archive for local historians. Dundee: The Postcard Collection dips into this archive and presents many rare and fascinating images of the city.