A brief history of Post Cards
Deltiology: The Study Of Post Cards
Deltiologist: One who studies Post Cards
The first commercial use of post cards was begun in 1869. The Post Office in Austria produced a Postal Card The card had the Logo Austria Postal Card on the front and a printed stamp near the top right corner. The other side was blank. The message could be written on the back and the address on the front
If one could obtain one of the original cards they would have a very valuable item There are only a handful known to exist today
Up until 10 yrs ago these cards were considered the first Post Card Around that time a handmade card was found that dated from 1849. While not marked as a Postal Card it is know considered to be the first actual Postal Card
After the Austian P.O. produced their cards other European Countries began producing the same type of cards and became a popular way to correspond with others. In North America the U.S. started using these cards in1870 and Canada produced their first one in 1871 or 2
As time progressed Commercial outlets saw these as being away to communicate with their cliental and began using them. At first they were blank besides the Govt Post Office Marking and stamp but in the late 1870's early 1880's pictures or drawings began to appear on the side of the card advertising their wares In the mid 1880's a Summer Resort in Europe produced a card showing a handdrawn representation of their Hotel. This was the first known Picture Postal Card
In the late 1880's Germany started producing cards views or drawings on them and these are known as Graus Aus Cards These were popular til the late 1890's
In 1898 by an act of congress the U.S. Post Office produced cards with scenes on them The scene was on the front and the address could be put on the back. By Law only the address could be written on the back If one wrote a message it had to be on the front of the card. If cards were sent any other way the card could be sent back or destroyed
At first the Term Postal Card was used but by 1899 the Term Post Card appeared
The Post Offices allowed production of cards to commercial companies and picture cards became more common
The practice of writing on the front the address on the back continued til 1904
At that point Companies that produced cards and the general public petitioned the Post Offices of the different countries to allow a message to be written on the back of the card as welll as the address
by the middle of 1904 a line started appearing on the middle of the back of the card seperationg the message from the address. By 1908 the line was down the length of the card A practice still used today
RPPC's or real picture post cards began in 1898. At first one could take a photo they had taken and have thenm produced post card size. Taking them to be developed they could purchase a Post Card backing attach it to the photo and send it for 1 cent
RPPC's have remained consistent in production over the years
These cards allowed one to send pics of themselves to others record personal events etc and added to the written word Something a letter could not do
Cards could also sent cheaper than letter rate so often 2 or 3 Post Cards or RPPC's would be sent then maybe once a month or so a full letter would be mailed
1900 to approx 1912 was considered the Golden Age of Post Cards The workmanship and quality of the cards were outstanding and cards gained popularity by leaps and bounds
Upper Middle Class Women were the first to appreciate the uniqueness of these little pieces of paper and began saving and trading these with their friends. Soon Their Husbands Sons daughters other friends etc saw what was going on and The Post Card collecting Craze began in earnest
Post Card collecting in the Golden Age was huge
Post Cards became one of the largest collectibles ever during that time
Commercial Companies began expanding their production of them as print cards and started contracting Photographers to take photos that could be used on cards.
Post Card Clubs were formed Magazines and journals appeared Special albums were produced and special pencils pens stamps etc were produced to write on cards. Post Card Stores appeared providing equipment needed & selling cards Post Card Machines also appeared that could be placed any where Stocked with cards one could deposit a penny and receive a card from a vast array in stock
By 1913 peoples attention around the world was diverted by the tensions mounting in Europe and collecting cards lessened
By the beginning of WW1 the collecting of cards was for the most part forgotten with other grave and pressing matters in their thoughts
Cards were still produced and most cards that were produced during the war were Patriotic or depicting scenes of the conflicts occuring in Nature
Cards that could be sent by the various countries troops were also produced but not alot of thought or imagination went into these Often these cards had messages with multiple writings on them that could pass the censoring of correspondence by the countries war depts
After the War cards once again were produced but by that time the collecting fad had faded and Post Cards were seen as mostly just a means of correspondence
Scenes still appeared on the cards comic cards etc were prevalent but the spark of collecting was gone
Manufacturers also cut back on how they produced cards To save money cheaper materials were used to produce the The colors and inks used were dulller
Most of these cards had a white border around them. These were used until the mid 1920's
In the mid 20's a card known as A Linen Post Card was produced and these ran til the early 1970's
A process developed allowed a cheaper grade of paper to be used to produce cards. This process produced cardbord that had cross hatching on them When one felt the card it felt like linen
In 1939 an American Oil Company produced a series of 52 cards depicting scenes across the U.S that were glossy. These were known as chrome cards These are todays modern cards and are still referred to that now
In 1969 The 100th Anniversay of The Commercial Post Card People once again got bitten by the allure of collecting Post Cards
While not as popular there were a core group of collectors over the years that collected cards Some clubs existed and people purchased and traded cards
For the 100th Annversary Clubs produced reproductions of cards to commemorate the100 years and also to see if they could stimulate interest in these little pieces of paper again
To their amazement people looked at the repros but shunned them in favor of older cards and the collecting of Old Post Cards in earnest began again
Today we have a new form of Post Card that is generated and sent by electronic means The Computer Generated Post Card
There are alot of reasons why one collects Post Cards and how some become more popular and valuable but to understand why one needs a background hence why I have started this way
I will be back but it's getting late
so write if you can but if not
send me an old post card
I love them
weavers
