Oxford Part 1: “The Bikers Are Coming”

My mother works as City Clerk for the town of Oxford…Iowa that is, not England. Although I have visited that most prestigious city of Oxford, England several times and been charmed by its gorgeous spires and most fabulous history, the quaint little town of Oxford, Iowa is pretty swell too in its own unique way. The town is actually  well-known across the world thanks to a photographic art book called "The Oxford Project" by Peter Feldstein and Stephen G. Bloom.

One view of downtown Oxford as it currently is

In addition to her regular civic duties, my mother choose to volunteer as the co-chair of the town’s planning committee in preparation for it being a ride-through stop during “RAGBRAI”, The Des Moines “Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa”, on July 29th. It would be the first time Oxford officially participated. In preparation for that event my mother got the idea it would be nice to have postcards for the town to sell as souvenirs. This idea came with just few days to create and order them so they would ship on time, so I quickly went to work designing, not just one, but two postcards that displayed an “Oxford: Then & Now” theme.

One card features old photographs of the city from the early part of last century on one side, and the other half with recent pictures I took from around the town. Additionally, since Oxford was highlighting the fire department during RAGBRAI’s visit, I made the other postcard feature photographs of all the various fire-fighting equipment through the ages from their 1918 Chemical Cart which held 45 gallons all the way to their brand new Freightliner Truck which holds 1000 gallons.

The back of the postcards include information about the front and I thought it would be cool to include a map of Iowa in lieu of the traditional box where you put the stamp. I think it adds a nice touch. The star represents Oxford’s location in the state.

I’m pleased with the way they turned out and apparently they hold the honor of being the city’s first official souvenir postcards!