Reproducing 82 vintage postcards published from the turn of the 20th century through the 1970s, this book of luminous images traces American cultural life, reflected in the nighttime landscape, as it was transformed by industrial strength and shifting demographics. Geographer John Jakle notes that, as the country grew more educated, urban, and mobile, the nighttime postcard popularized this modernism and evoked romantic images of travel and prosperity. Meanwhile coalitions of city planners, politicians, and commercial organizations strategically used the picture postcard to promote the economic rise of individual cities.
