Worcester, Massachusetts, a birthplace of the American Revolution, is a city of many industrial firsts, including Eli Whitney's cotton gin, Elias Howe's sewing machine, Dr. Russell L. Hawes' machine for folding plain paper into envelopes, and Ester Howland's mass-produced Valentines. Other Worcester firsts include American postcards, new loom designs, the corset, the all-night-lunch, the first national convention advocating women's rights, the railroad passenger car, and a public city park._x000D_See 284 lively, color postcard views and modern photos that help tell Worcester's story, one of the oldest commercial success tales in the country. _x000D_Learn how Worcester's beneficial location in the center of Massachusetts, with major highways and a rail system, helped it develop into a world-class city. AUTHOR: Debby DuBay is a retired United States Air Force veteran who served in Vietnam and Desert Storm. She turned her passion for antiques into a second profession as owner of the Limoges Antiques Shop in Rutland, Vermont. An avid porcelain and postcard collector, she lives in Worcester, Mass.