History of the Asheville Postcard Company

The majestic beauty of North Carolina and surrounding states was captured for all posterity in the iconic images of the Asheville Postcard company. Mere words seem lacking or insufficient when trying to describe the magnificence of "Bridal Veil Falls" on a clear spring day, as majestic waterfalls cascade over the ancient bluff. "Horseshoe Bend on Little Tennessee River Near the Great Smokey Mountains National Park" is a visual masterpiece of color and light as the mighty Tennessee River sojourns in a pristine valley before rejoining the main water flow. The exaggerated twists and turns of "Newfound Gap Highway" pull the viewer into the scene with a force stronger than any known magnet.

Lamar Campbell LeCompte began the Asheville Postcard and Pennant Company in 1910. The decade between 1900 and 1910 was a period of governmental deregulation for the postcard industry. Labeling requirements were relaxed to allow the application of the brief term "postcard" and now also permitted was a divided back for full sender and addressee information. These more liberal standards allowed entrepreneurs to explore innumerable possibilities for more visually stunning postcard photos, comics, and drawings. L.C. LeCompte had a keen eye for the natural beauty of the south with its' many parks, monuments, and tourist spots.

In fact, the early postcard industry had much to do with the creation of the tourism industry. The steam locomotive, then later the automobile, created more affordable and expeditious travel opportunities for the average citizen. As further incentive, what later became known as simply the Asheville Postcard Company was printing postcards featuring the early model tour buses of the Smokey Mountain Tours Sightseeing Company mildly cruising the challenging terrain on Little River Gorge. The perfect combination of inexpensive travel and the intriguing scenery of the southern states proved too great a draw for many. Rest assured, these new tourists of the twentieth century were not disappointed in their journeys and returned year after year.

Even the untrained eye can perceive the uncompromising quality with which the photographs for the Asheville Postcard company images were chosen. With so many photo offerings of the Great Smokey Mountains readily available it must have been a difficult choice, but somehow "Autumn Scene", "Moonlight Scene in the Great Smokey Mountains", and "View of the Mountains from the Train", among others, capture just the right perspective and allow us to see the essence of all that is beautiful in this cherished national park.

Imagine the unending struggle of guiding a young company through the Great Depression. Trying times even for companies producing basic needs and household staples, but postcards and similar purchases would have been considered luxury items and probably far removed from the daily thoughts of anyone just trying to survive another day. Yet somehow, L.C. LeCompte and his chief salesman, Allen Hall, were able to create a niche market by initially traveling a large territory to sell their unique postcards to souvenir shops, bookstores, five-and-dimes, and gift shops. Sustaining the company meant putting 340,000 miles on his 1940 sedan, said Allen Hall in a 1977 interview for an article in the Asheville Times by Nancy Brower.

Also noted in the article from 1977 is the fact that many of the notable landmarks in the postcards published by L.C. LeCompte had already disappeared. For instance, the Toxaway Inn was nearby to the remarkable splendor of Toxaway Falls, but in 1918 the dam broke and the ensuing flood waters washed away the inn. The quaint charm, country feel, and unspoiled landscape of seemingly isolated two land roads like US 70 over Old Fort Mountain had already become mega highways. The primitive regional meaning and early significance now all but lost to the ages excepting the enduring nostalgia of these rarified postcard images.