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The rich history of Detroit comes through with local historian Dan Austin's new book, "Greetings from Detroit: Historic Postcards of the Motor City."
The book contains more than 200 vintage postcards of Detroit streets and landmarks including old streetcars (pre-QLINE), from the early 1900s to the 1950s.
Austin is a former Detroit Free Press reporter and ex-spokesman for Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, who currently works for a public relations firm in Detroit.
A Facebook page for the book describes it this way:
In the era before cameras became commonplace, postcard shops were everywhere — allowing folks to send snapshots of their travels to friends and family or to take home as mementos. Many of these old postcards are now sought after collectables today, offering a rare look back at a time of tremendous growth and change across Detroit during the first half of the 20th century.
From sleek streetcars to smoke-belching steamers, from canoe rides on Belle Isle to Tigers fans taking in old-time baseball at Michigan and Trumbull. This book gathers some of the best, most illustrative postcards in one place and -- for the first time, in full color -- frames them alongside meticulously researched writing offering context and stories behind each image. It's a history book. It's a picture book. It's a window to see Detroit as they saw it, more than 100 years ago.
A book launch party is set for Sunday, Sept. 17 from 1-4 p.m. at Pure Detroit in the Fisher Building on W. Grand Blvd. in Detroit's New Center area.
The book can be ordered online for $24.95 on the site, HistoricDetroit.org, which Austin runs.
