This collection includes postcards from 45 African countries. Subjects include agriculture; animals; artists; body arts; cityscapes; cultural landscapes; dance; education; expeditions; flora; industry; leaders; marketplaces; medicine; military; missionaries; music; portraits; recreation; rites and ceremonies; and transportation, among many other topics.
Arrangement note:
Arranged by country and topic
Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Genre/Form:
Postcards
Citation:
African Postcard collection, EEPA 1985-014, Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Printed caption on verso reads: "Tableaux d'Afrique; Avec d'autres femmes Soninkés, Silla Camara décore un mur d'une concession de Djajibinni, Mauritanie."
Translated caption reads: "Pictures of Africa; Along with other Soninke women, Silla Camara adorns a wall of a concession at Djajibinni, Mauritania."
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Printed caption on recto reads: "Afrique Occidentale Française - Mauritanie; Aleg - Bureau des Postes et Télégraphes."
Translated caption reads: "French West Africa - Mauritania; Aleg - Post and Telegraph Office."
Additional printed text on recto reads: "Collection L. Penel, Saint-Louis."
Local Numbers:
EEPA MU-35-01
General:
Title source: Postcard caption.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Printed caption on recto reads: "Afrique Occidentale Française - Mauritanie; Comment on voyage: Départ d'un Européen avec son Convoi."
Translated caption reads: "French West Africa - Mauritania; How one travels: Departure of a European with his convoy."
Additional printed text on recto reads: "Collection L. Penel, Saint-Louis."
Local Numbers:
EEPA MU-47-01
General:
Title source: Postcard caption.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
"Salt from most sources in Africa requires preparation before it can be used or traded. Almost all the salt used by ordinary people in the last five centuries was obtained from local sources. Only the few, particularly rich sources were more intensively exploited and the product traded over distances of up to 1,000 kilometers. The most famous deposits are in the deserts of Mauritania and Mali. After the destruction of Taghaza site (Mali), Taodeni (Mali) took its place and in 1975 was still producing several thousand tons of salt a year. From 16 square kilometers of salt pans, laborers, mainly convicts, mined the salt in 60-kilogram slabs from shallow trenches. Caravans still exported the slabs to Tombouctou." [Vogel J., 1997: Encyclopedia of Precolonial Africa, Altamira Press]. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for Westinghouse Film and traveled to Africa from October 26, 1970 to end of March 1971.
Local Numbers:
EENG-VII-2, 2.
General:
Title source: Index card based on photographer's notes.
Local Note:
Typed index card reads, "R 1 Mal. Mali. Timbuctu. Loading salt slabs onto boats. 12/1970. EE. neg.no. VII-2, 2." The card was written in 1977-79 by Archives staff using source provided by photographer.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
"Salt from most sources in Africa requires preparation before it can be used or traded. Almost all the salt used by ordinary people in the last five centuries was obtained from local sources. Only the few, particularly rich sources were more intensively exploited and the product traded over distances of up to 1,000kilometers. The most famous deposits are in the deserts of Mauritania and Mali. After the destruction of Taghaza site (Mali), Taodeni (Mali) took its place and in 1975 was still producing several thousand tons of salt a year. From 16 square kilometers of salt pans, laborers, mainly convicts, mined the salt in 60-kilogram slabs from shallow trenches. Caravans still exported the slabs to Tombouctou." [Vogel J., 1997: Encyclopedia of Precolonial Africa, Altamira Press]. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for Westinghouse Film and traveled to Africa from October 26, 1970 to end of March 1971.
Local Numbers:
EENG-VII-2, 1.
General:
Title source: Index card based on photographer's notes.
Local Note:
Typed index card reads, "R 1 Mal. Mali. Timbuctu. Loading salt slabs onto boats. 12/1970. EE. neg.no. VII-2, 1." The card was written in 1977-79 by Archives staff using source provided by photographer.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
"Salt from most sources in Africa requires preparation before it can be used or traded. Almost all the salt used by ordinary people in the last five centuries was obtained from local sources. Only the few, particularly rich sources were more intensively exploited and the product traded over distances of up to 1,000kilometers. The most famous deposits are in the deserts of Mauritania and Mali. After the destruction of Taghaza site (Mali), Taodeni (Mali) took its place and in 1975 was still producing several thousand tons of salt a year. From 16 square kilometers of salt pans, laborers, mainly convicts, mined the salt in 60-kilogram slabs from shallow trenches. Caravans still exported the slabs to Tombouctou." [Vogel J., 1997: Encyclopedia of Precolonial Africa, Altamira Press]. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for Westinghouse Film and traveled to Africa from October 26, 1970 to end of March 1971.
Local Numbers:
EENG-VII-2, 3.
General:
Title source: Index card based on photographer's notes.
Local Note:
Typed index card reads, "R 1 Mal. Mali. Timbuctu. Loading salt slabs onto boats. 12/1970. EE. neg.no. VII-2, 3." The card was written in 1977-79 by Archives staff using source provided by photographer.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
"Salt from most sources in Africa requires preparation before it can be used or traded. Almost all the salt used by ordinary people in the last five centuries was obtained from local sources. Only the few, particularly rich sources were more intensively exploited and the product traded over distances of up to 1,000kilometers. The most famous deposits are in the deserts of Mauritania and Mali. After the destruction of Taghaza site (Mali), Taodeni (Mali) took its place and in 1975 was still producing several thousand tons of salt a year. From 16 square kilometers of salt pans, laborers, mainly convicts, mined the salt in 60-kilogram slabs from shallow trenches. Caravans still exported the slabs to Tombouctou." [Vogel J., 1997: Encyclopedia of Precolonial Africa, Altamira Press]. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for Westinghouse Film and traveled to Africa from October 26, 1970 to end of March 1971.
Local Numbers:
EENG-VII-2, 5.
General:
Title source: Index card based on photographer's notes.
Local Note:
Typed index card reads, "R 1 Mal. Mali. Timbuctu. Loading salt slabs onto boats. 12/1970. EE. neg.no. VII-2, 5." The card was written in 1977-79 by Archives staff using source provided by photographer.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
