Postcard Packs and Photo Sets
Expo ‘74 postcards were (and still are) some of the most widely-available souvenirs of the fair. They were affordable to produce, cheap to purchase, and easy to store and transport. At least some of them depicted images that could serve as general souvenirs of Spokane, rather than Expo specifically, which gave them extra longevity. Growing up in Spokane in the late 1990s, the Looff Carousel gift shop was still selling packs of Expo postcards.
Although many different packs of postcards were produced, each featured a selection of images from the line of official postcards, and many overlapped in their content. A few of those packs are described here. I have given them descriptive names to keep them organized, but as far as I know there were no official titles differentiating them.
The “blue and green” postcard pack.
The “blue and green postcard pack” was meant to be sent as one piece, sealed and with a stamp affixed to the outside. The images inside are printed on both sides of the paper and could not be mailed separately. This pack features:
U.S. Pavilion by Night (outside front).
Nighttime Glitter (outside back).
Interior, side 1: Clean Rushing Water, Colorful Flags/Canada Island, Ride Over the Falls (Horizontal Version), The Fair Couplet, Republic of China Pavilion, Opening Day Celebration, Republic of Korea Pavilion,
Interior, side 2: U.S. Pavilion Interior Courtyard, USSR Pavilion Interior, General Motors by Night, Pavilion Reflections, Great Northwest Midway (two spinning rides at night).
The “mini” postcard pack.
The “Keep The Miniatures” postcard pack proposed that fair-goers could “mail the post cards, save the miniatures.” In all cases except the cover, each page offers a miniature and larger version of the same postcard.
Cover: Colorful Balloons (mini), Sky Ride - US Pavilion (full)
Fair Couplet
Balloons Over Lagoon
Soviet Pavilion Exterior
The Falls
Native American’s Earth
Colorful Balloons and Floats of Nations
Main Entrance
Fair-goers could also purchase “photo sets,” which were very similar to the postcard packs, but were not intended to be mailed. I’ve included them here, as they have more in common with the postcard packs than any other souvenir.
Unlike postcards from other eras of Spokane history, Expo ‘74 postcards were rarely used as actual pieces of mail.
Small photo book.
