Curt Teich Postcard Archives

The Curt Teich Postcard Archives, part of the Lake County Discovery Museum, is recognized throughout the world as the largest public collection of postcards and related materials.  Follow us on Twitter @TeichPostcard.

The Teich Archives include:

• Images of more than 10,000 towns and cities in North America and in many foreign countries
• One of the nation's largest collections of Route 66, Lincoln Highway and other travel-related images
• Over 100,000 job files for the postcards produced by the Teich Company
• 365,000 postcards that are cataloged under more than 2,100 subject headings

Picture Researchers

For more information on using postcards from the Curt Teich Postcard Archives, please e-mail the Archives or call 847-968-3381 for immediate assistance.

Hours

The Archives Library is open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. An appointment will provide staff assistance and access to the Collections. Appointments are available Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4:30 p.m. Telephone, mail and e-mail research requests are encouraged.

Exhibits

Located in the Lake County Discovery Museum gallery is the exhibit, Bringing the World Home, a fun and entertaining look at life in the past two centuries through postcards. Learn about the history of the postcard and their importance as research documents.

Online Exhibit

Changing the Skyline: The Architecture of Daniel H. Burnham

Membership: Friends of Lake County Discovery Museum

Support the museum and receive great benefits by becoming a member of the Friends of the Lake County Discovery Museum. Members enjoy:

• Free admission
• Museum store and research discounts
• Free subscription to the Museum's Image File magazine
• Invitations to exclusive Members-only events

Learn more about membership.

Images

• Postcards Online - Illinois Digital Archives
  Access more than 30,000 postcard views of towns, cities, lakes, rivers, and parks in Illinois, across the country and Canada from the Teich Archives collections.
  
  • Click here for the Illinois Digital Archives home page
  • Select from the list of collections to browse through the images  
• AgPix
  View images of more than 180 different subject areas from the Teich Archives.
• Stock Index Online
  View more than 300 images of people and places around the world from the Teich Archives. 
• Flickr - Browse images from the Teich Archives by categories.

Postcard Art Competition/Exhibition (PACE)

This biennial event honors the postcard as an art form and challenges artists from around the country to create original works of art in 4"x 6" postcard size. For more information about PACE 2011, click here.

The Curt Teich Postcard Archives is located in Lakewood Forest Preserve in southwest Lake County.

The entrance and parking area are located on Route 176 west of Fairfield Road. Follow signs to the Curt Teich Archives Building. [view on Google Maps]

News