Though postcards in America have been around since 1873, it has been argued that they experienced their “Golden Age” during the twentieth century. During this period nearly every type of institution used postcards to advertise or project its image to the masses. Cards featuring photographs or drawings of hotels, motor lodges, restaurants, and tourist attractions were commonplace; but other institutions such as banks, hospitals, gasoline stations, churches, and sanitariums were also the subjects of postcards as well. Art, such as painting or photography was also quite popular on postcards. Still other cards commemorated historical events such as coronations, wars, movements, and other subjects.
The Randolph H. Lytton Historical Postcards of Fairfax, Virginia Collection serves as a window on the not-so-distant past for the City of Fairfax, Virginia. It features mainly Fairfax businesses, institutions, government buildings, and other places of interest. Many of the cards depict Fairfax places of lodging, particularly those along the Route 29 / Route 50 corridor. The collection contains about 200 color and black and white postcards. Total volume of the collection is .35 cubic feet or .5 linear feet.