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The postcard fad in America began in the big cities. Postcards began to appear in the cities such as New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Washington, D. C., where tourists purchased picture postal cards to mail back home to friends and relatives. Popular exhibitions beginning in the 1890s all had postcards printed. Tourists like to send greetings and to impress the folks back hime. Others bought the cards to put in their personal albums when they returned. Such albumns were a mainstay of the Victoroan and Edwardian home and still popular in America as late as the 1950s. Not everyone was a photographer, especially in the 1890s before the Kodak Brownie so these cards were a colorful addition to the family albumns. Soon the post card fad spread from the big cities to smaller towns and villages. A basic chronology of postcards in America can be very useful in dating the cards. The dating of the postcard for years or eras of issue can be accurately determined if the card is studied for identity points. Research has already been done by earlier historians and guidelines have been put into place. Of course postally used cards with post marks are the easiest to date, but even without post marks dates can often be assigned. Post card historians have identified seven eras for the postcard industry and each one has distinguishing points to help establish its respective identity. The following may help determine the era of any card in question.
Long before postcards, Americans began sending cards through the mail with addresses and postage on one side. These were not post cards and collectors commonly referred to them simply as 'mailed cards'. We also see envelopes with pictures on them. Actual examples of these envelopes are very rare. The first actual post cards were privately printed cards. Apparently the Post Office was not sure how to deal with them. After some debate, Congress passed a law that allowed these privately printed cards (February 27, 1861). This came at a pivotal time in American history. You would have thought with the country coming apart that Congress would have hard more to worry about.
Congress set the cost for mailing a card weighing 1 ounce or under at 1 cent. At the same time, John P. Charlton copyrighted America's first postcard in America. After the Civil War, Hymen L. Lipman reissued Charlton’s postcard, but with his name -- Lipman’s Postal Cards. Congress acted again, approved government issuance of post cards (1872). The U.S. PostbOffice issued its first postcard (1873). The front of the postcard identified it as an official U.S. Government product and was for the address. Congress mandated the only postcards allowed to bear the term 'Postal Card'. Private publishers were still allowed to print postcards, but they the mailers had to pay 2 cents rather than the 1 cent Post Office cards to mail them.
The American post card era began in earnest when picture postcards were placed on sale by vendors and exhibitors at the Colombian Exposition in Chicago, May 1893. These were very popular and proved to be a great success. The profitable and lasting future of the postcard was greatly enhanced. The cards from this era are relatively scarce. They can be identified by combinations of the following:
Post cards in the 1890s existed, but today are relatively scarse compared to the flood of cards after the turn of the 20th century. This is in large part due to Congress which passed a bill on May 19, 1898. The new law allowed for privately printed cards to be mailed at the same rate as "postal cards" that the Post Office had been printing. The going rate at the time was one penny. (Explaining the origin of the term "penny post" card.) The cards had to be the same general size and weight as the Post Office postal cards. This gave private printers permission to print and sell postcards. These cards were at first all issued with the inscription "Private Mailing Card," and today they are referred to as PMCs by collectors. Some were inscribed rather formally "Authorized by an Act of Congress May 19, 1898". It is thus easy to identify these early PMCs because of the inscriptions. It may be noted that many of the early pioneer views printed in the 1890s were reprinted as PMCs.
The Government had a major impact on the postcard industry. The cards were normally mailed through the U.S. Post Office. Thus postal regulations had a major impact on the industry. The Post Office on December 24, 1901, gave permission for use of the wording "Post Card" to be imprinted on the backs of privately printed cards. All cards during this era had undivided backs of privately printed cards and only the address was to appear on the back. The message, therefore, had to be written on the front (picture side) of the card. For this reason, there is writing on the face of many cards. As a result, collectors often call PMCs and the type of post cards that came just after withoutthe PMC inscription as "undivided backs". There was no vertical dividing lines on the backs of these cards. The Post Office was very strict. So as not to cinfuse mail sorters, only the address the card was to be sent to was allowed. Postal regulations did not pemit the return address or message written on the back.
This divided-back era began on March 1, 1907. The divided back made it possible for both the address and the message to be on the back of the card. This prevented the face of the card from being written on and proved to be a great boon for collectors. Normally the view colors or images filled the entire card with no white border. The primary publisher was AZO. AZO and other companies put stamp boxes on the back of the cards. The can be used to date the cards. People could have their family snapshots printed with post card backs. Studios also printed portraits wth postcard backs. As Countries like England, France, and Germany had more advanced postcard industries, many cards were imported. Thus many of the cards used in America during this period were imported. British and Germans cards were especially popular in America and were usually the highest quality cards. The German made card here is a good example (figure 1). Rafael Tuck and Sons was especially well known and began exporting postcards to the United States beginning in 1899. With the onset of World War I (1914-18), German cards were no longer available in America because of the British naval blockade. British cards also decreased in availability as Britain focused its economy on the War. This disription gave a boost to domestic American companies. Divided back cards were the standard in the United States until the 'white border' cards appeared.
The White Border era seems to have brought an end to the postcard craze era. Internet sources suggest the white border began in 1915-16, this seems basically accyurate, but we have found 1914 examples. Post card collecting, in part because of the War, declined in popularity. The high quality European cards were no lionger available. America became a more serious place, especially after 1917 when the country entered the War. There were fewer family vacations and this fewer cards needed to send home. The golden age ended as imports from Germany ceased and publishers in the U.S. began printing postcards to try to fill the void. The cards were very poor quality and many were reprints of earlier Divided Back Era cards. These are easily distinguished by the white border around the pictured area. They were especially common in the 1920s. With the passing of the golden era of post card collecting, the use of the posrcard became much like it is today. Postcards became common for vacations, but were no longer a fad as was the case in the 1900s and 10s. These were mostly commercial cards, but we see some studio portraits with white border images and postcard backs. The stamp boxes are still useful in dating them.
Improvements in America printing technology brought improved card quality. Publishers began using a linen-like paper containing a high rag content but used very cheap inks in most instances. Until recently, collectors considered these cards very cheap. Now they are very popular with collectors of roadside America, Blacks, Comics, and Advertising. Views are also becoming more popular as collectors realize that this era too is a part of out history, and these cards help to illustrate the changes in the geographic structure of America.
"Modern Chromes," as the postcard fraternity now calls them, were first introduced in 1939. Publishers,
such as Mike Roberts, Dexter Press, Curt Teich, and Plastichrome, began producing cards that had very beautiful chrome colors and were very appealing to collectors. The growth of this group has been spectacular in recent years, so much so that there are now many postcard dealers who specialize only in chromes. These were commercial cards, not the private snap sots and stufio portraits published with photographic backs.
Real Photo postcards were in use as early as 1900. They were normally personal snapshots printed with a postcard mailing back. It is sometimes very hard to date a card unless it has been postally used or dated by the photographer. The stamp box can often be used to date cards. The box will usually show the process by which it was printed---AZO, EKC, KODAK, VELOX, and KRUXO are some of the principal ones. Careful study of photo cards is essential to make sure they have not been reproduced.
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