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A 5.5x3.5" vintage RPPC photo postcard (NOT a modern reprint) from the estate of a vintage postcard collector. This was part of a huge collection of antique postcards.
* We always automatically combine orders for shipping, so add as many postcards as you’d like to your order! Professionally packaged in a rigid mailer for safe delivery.
Photo Overview
Two Passamaquoddy men paddle a birch bark canoe, dressed in full traditional regalia including feathered headdress and a tall woven cap. The caption on this remarkable real photo postcard reads "Pleasant Point, Me. to Plymouth, Mass.. June, 1921," documenting what appears to be a ceremonial or commemorative canoe voyage from the Passamaquoddy reservation at Pleasant Point (Sipayik) in Eastport, Maine, down the New England coast to Plymouth, Massachusetts. The photograph was taken by Albright Guibord Photo Co. of Boston.
This is an extraordinary image capturing a journey that was almost certainly connected to the 1921 Tercentenary celebrations of the Pilgrim landing at Plymouth Rock. The Passamaquoddy, as one of the Wabanaki Confederacy nations of the Northeast, had deep ancestral ties to the coastal waters of New England, and their participation in the Plymouth commemorations would have been a powerful statement of indigenous presence and endurance.
Historical Notes
The Pleasant Point (Sipayik) reservation in Washington County, Maine, has been home to the Passamaquoddy people for centuries. In 1921, Plymouth, Massachusetts hosted extensive Tercentenary events marking 300 years since the Pilgrims\' arrival. Native peoples were invited to participate, though the celebrations were largely framed through a colonial lens. The Passamaquoddy paddlers\' coastal journey of roughly 350 miles by canoe from Pleasant Point to Plymouth was a remarkable feat of seamanship and endurance. The Passamaquoddy tribe went on to play a significant role in 20th century Native American legal history - in 1980, the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act awarded the Passamaquoddy and Penobscot tribes $81.5 million for lands illegally taken, one of the largest Native land claims settlements in U.S. history. Pleasant Point remains an active Passamaquoddy community today, and birch bark canoe building has experienced a cultural revival among the Wabanaki peoples in recent decades.
Print analysis
This is a genuine real photo postcard (RPPC) with a continuous-tone photographic image on photographic paper stock. The back shows a divided postcard format with hand-stamped "POST CARD" text, consistent with small-run RPPC production of the early 1920s. The sepia toning and photographic quality are consistent with silver gelatin printing of the period. This is a Type 1 original - produced contemporaneously with the June 1921 event by Albright Guibord Photo Co. of Boston. The card is unused and unposted.
Condition
All postcards we sell are in fair to excellent vintage condition. Please see photos for any tears, folds, smudges, or other age damage that may be present.
