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Charles U. Williams (1867–1953) was a prominent Bloomington, Illinois entrepreneur who became one of the Midwest's most prolific postcard publishers during the Golden Age of postcards. Inspired by a German souvenir postcard, Williams dispatched teams of photographers across at least thirty states to capture local landmarks and small-town street scenes. His Bloomington-based company mass-produced these high-quality images in distinct brand formats—such as his crisp "Photoette" real-photo postcards and rich "Brownette" prints—and sold them in bulk as localized souvenirs. The massive success of his postcard empire provided the capital Williams needed to pivot into Bloomington’s early automobile industry and eventually found the historic Williams Oil-O-Matic heating burner company.
Williams had photographers in Washington on several occasions and produced multiple postcards on early Washington life. Here are the examples we have run across:
2000 Series - Early 1908 - all taken on the same day
6000 Series - Late 1908/Early 1909 - all taken on the same day
9000 Series - Late 1909 - all taken on the same day
11000 Series - Mid 1910
16000 Series - Early to Mid 1911 - All photos taken on the same day
17000 Series - Mid to late 1911 - All photos taken on the same day
No number - 8th grade Class of 1911
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