Petaluma California Bihn Chicken Hatchery 1910s Postcard Unposted Divided Back

This 1910s postcard documents the Bihn Hatchery in Petaluma, California, illustrating the city’s early twentieth-century prominence in commercial poultry production.

By the early 1900s, Petaluma had earned national recognition as a center of egg and poultry farming, supported by specialized hatcheries and distribution networks. Large-scale incubation facilities such as the Bihn Hatchery represented industrialized approaches to poultry production, moving beyond small farm operations to organized commercial enterprises. The caption across the top reads 33,000 Eggs in One Room, emphasizing both capacity and technological scale at a time when artificial incubation was transforming agricultural output.

The image presents long rows of egg trays arranged on tiered racks within a darkened interior space, conveying the repetitive, systematic nature of hatchery operations. Structural support posts divide the room, while the foreground trays create strong linear perspective. The reverse features a divided-back format consistent with early twentieth-century postcard production and appears unposted, with no visible postal markings.

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