Monday, April 15, 2013

Insane Asylum Kankakee Illinois State Hospital

It's been a long time since I last posted...

To kick things off - postcards of a dismal place ... no, I haven't been spending time there!

What was referred to as the insane asylum a century ago.  A popular topic on postcards then - often the sender writes on the back "I spent a night here" or "I hurried on by quickly" - and still popular among collectors today.




Opened in 1879, the hospital underwent several major changes in the course of a century or so, becoming the Samuel H Shapiro Developmental Center in recent decades to serve the developmentally disabled. 

2 comments:

Butterfly In The Attic said...

Love your blog. Very cool postcards. I actually don't have any Asylum cards (yet) I will have now be on the look out for them. I have a few disasters: forest fires, burning buildings, and one of a building turned to ashes. I always thought it was very intriguing of what subjects were created into postcards. I hope you get a chance to stop by my blog. There is a postcard forum there also so if you ever have question or mystery to be solved please post it there too.

Have a great day
Colleen

kuaka said...

Look for state hospitals as well as insane asylums in captions as most state hospitals were or are used to treat mental health patients. These cards typically carry a premium in the market place. Will check out your blog!