Check Out This Colorado National Monument Souvenir From The 1940s

Souvenirs have changed a lot over the years. Did you know that Colorado National Monument once sold linen postcards? Check out this one that we found on Etsy. It dates back nearly 70 years. Here's the description.

• Vintage Colorado Postcard: "The Coke Ovens, Monument Canyon in Scenic Colorado"Great 1940s "linen" postcard in excellent condition; this card was never posted and it doesn't have any writing on the back. Nice colorful vintage scenic view of Colorado, showing the giant Coke Ovens at Monument Canyon in Colorado National Monument, near Grand Junction.This postcard is over 60 years old... a little piece of Colorado history!

I had to look this up, but "linen" postcards weren't made out of linen. The Collector's Weekly website explained.

Linen postcards were printed in the United States from the1930s until the 1950s. Contrary to their descriptive name, linen postcards were not made out of linen, which is derived from flax, but they did have a high rag content, which means the paper contained a certain amount of cotton fiber. Instead, linen actually refers to the surface texture of the postcard—prior to the early 1930s, it was not economically feasible to print anything of quality on embossed papers.

Even if it's not really linen, it sure is a neat glimpse at how visitors to Colorado National Monument chose to remember their visit.