This very useful essay by R.E.L. Tanner, an English scholar, explains why the study of postcards can reveals much about history that other historical sources usually miss. He goes through a long set of instances and examples of where postcards reveal something important and unexpected about its subjects.

The work of D.A. Ahuja, a Punjabi-owned photography studio in Yangon (Rangoon) whose postcards were very popular at the turn of the century is used as one of the examples.

The essay, which originally appeared in Anthropologist 6(3): 215-218 (2004), offers much food for thought, and is especially relevant to countries in Asia where limited amounts of other visual evidence are available.