How Fake Photos Helped Convince People to Move to the Midwest

Progressive Era and WWI

How do faked photos on postcards poke fun at the reality of life in the Midwest over 100 years ago?

Tall-tale postcards—photographic postcards showing greatly exaggerated produce and animals–emerged as part of the “postcard mania” in the United States in the late 1800s to the 1920s. Life on the plains and prairies at that time was tough. Droughts, storms, swarms of insects, and other disasters plagued places like Wisconsin and made growing food far from easy. The tall-tale postcard emerged as a humorous response–with supersized fruits and vegetables making the Midwest seem like the land of plenty and problem-free.