Springfield, Ma

Arcadia Publishing specializes in producing picture-logue books of historical people and places. These are nicely made, soft cover books on glossy, bright white paper filled with black and white pictures identified by interesting captions.It's quality work even if only for the select audience of the target demographic. The pictures are culled from the photo morgue (most are vintage photographs) of the local newspapers and the writers are usually members of the area's historical society, newspaper or college faculty. So these are complete and accurate works.SPRINGFIELD is part of Arcadia's "Postcard History Series." Having joyfully written and received postcards from all over the world, I was particularly interested in this book since this is the Massachusetts city where my kids were born.And while Springfield may have been known for many things - my kids, Birdseye, basketball, Dr. Seuss, Milton Bradley and many others - based on the images in this book, it was not known for its postcards. Presumably, this is not Arcadia's fault since they are merely reproducing the material with which they had to work, but this is a dull book.The captions are really good and I enjoyed reading them. The pictures, however, are muddy, busy and not super interesting. Overall, based on this presentation, SPRINGFIELD doesn't look like it was a fun place despite its storied history.