Tall Tale Postcards of the Twentieth Century

During the early years of the twentieth century, the tall-tale postcard flourished in the American Midwest, especially within the boasting, expansive atmosphere of the American frontier. Around the turn of the last century, when postcards came to function as surrogates for travel, people soon realized that they could be used to create or sustain a certain utopian myth about a town or region. Crafty photographers began to physically manipulate their photographs. Close-up photographs of ordinary-size produce and/or animals were combined, in skewed scale, with photos of people. Painstaking scissor-work resulted in hilarious, proto-surreal shots: children ride harnessed roosters, potatoes are so big that one alone fills a flatcar, giant trout caught in lakes and so on.

This gallery is a collection of some of the most ridiculous photo montages that appeared on postcards.

Source: Wisconsin Historical Images