Sam Kohl Postcard Collection – Museum of Chinese in America

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Post Card. Courtesy of Sam Kohl, Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) Collection.

For MOCA’s New Acquisitions Highlights this week, we feature a Chinese-themed postcard collection from our recently accessioned Sam Kohl Collection. A majority of the postcards measure 5.5” x 3.5”, which is slightly smaller than the more common 4”x 6” format.

All postcards in this collection share an overarching theme of depicting Chinese culture, people, and various sights and scenes from Chinese neighborhoods. It is difficult to pin down a date range for this set of postcards, but many of the postcards depict scenes from New York City’s Chinatown and Chinese restaurants from many decades past. Included with all these scenic cards, there is a selection with many dated and racist caricatures of Chinese men, showing men dressed in a changshan and having English dialogue with “broken” Chinese English or more commonly referred to as “Engrish” in modern pop culture. In between these are postcards that represent a fascination and appreciation of Chinese culture, albeit in often misunderstood ways.

Below are a sampling of the collection’s postcards, highlighting different art styles and print designs.

Set of four postcards featuring actor Chingwah Lee (Ching Wah Lee) in various movie scenes. Anna May Wong and Ella Raines make an appearance in these photo cards. Interestingly, Two of the postcards have signatures of Chingwah Lee, although it is hard to determine their authenticity. Courtesy of Sam Kohl, Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) Collection.

Set of four colorized photo postcards featuring scenes of Peking (Beijing) China. Courtesy of Sam Kohl, Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) Collection.

Colorized postcards of New York City's Chinatown and Freeman Chum's Restaurant. Courtesy of Sam Kohl, Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) Collection.

Drawn and/or painted scenes of Chinatown, "Cosmopolitan New York" series of postcards. Courtesy of Sam Kohl, Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) Collection.

Additional colorized photo cards of Peking (Beijing). The top left postcard features poorly written English, most likely as a mockery of Chinese people. Courtesy of Sam Kohl, Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) Collection.

Gold painted cards featuring Chinese children playing. Courtesy of Sam Kohl, Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) Collection.

Photograph postcards of a more familiar Chinatown, most likely captured in the late 20th century. Courtesy of Sam Kohl, Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) Collection.