Overview:
Chevy Chase resident Minnehaha “Minnie” E. Brooke, was not only a restauranteur, Girl Scout leader, and prominent suffragist, she was also a successful entrepreneur with her own souvenir and postcard shop. At the turn of the century, with the cost of telephone calls unaffordable for many, the picture postcard business took off as an inexpensive way to send one’s thoughts for a penny. Minnie capitalized on the new craze and created her own line of postcard images of the nation’s capital, beautifully printed in Germany. Images included sites in Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Maryland, from bustling boulevards to her very own Brook Farm Tea House.
Image credit: Minnie E. Brooke, Library of Congress.
