From the first private postal card sent in Philadelphia in 1861 to the digitally enhanced 3D card popped into your letterbox yesterday, people have communicated through postcards.
Retailers promote their goods, governments their policies, friends send greetings, colleagues convey thanks, families send love, charities campaign for donations... all through the postcard, that winning format of picture, address, brief message.
The first postcards were artist-designed; then from 1900 photo postcards swept the market. Today, anything goes – photos, comic strips, your child’s drawings - and deltiology, the official name for postcard collecting, is one of the world’s three largest collectable hobbies.
Read the history of postcard from 1861 to the present:
In 1861 the Private Postal Card is developed by John P. Charlton in Philadelphia.
Eight years later the first ‘non-postal’ card is issued in Austria – so called because it requires postage to be affixed [traditionally ‘postcards’ require stamps while ‘postal cards’ have pre-paid postage].
The first advertising card appears in England in 1873, and the following year the first German postcard is produced at the time of the Franco-German war.
Germany soon becomes a world leader in the postcard industry due to innovative printing methods, bold use of colour and outstanding visual artwork.
It is England however which produces the first postcard ‘pin-up’ – in 1877 thousands of postcards bearing portraits of the actress Lily Langtry are circulated round the country. Pears Soap asks her to advertise their product.
From 1873 to 1898 the United States government holds the national monopoly on printing postcards. American publishers are allowed to print and sell cards for the first time in 1898, but can only use the term ‘souvenir card’ until 1901 when the government finally loses its exclusive right to the term ‘postcard’.
Undivided Back Era 1898 – 1907
Until 1898 most postcards are undivided back postcards - i.e. there is no line down the centre of the card.
1900 sees the introduction of the first photo postcards which have actual photographs, usually printed on film stock paper.
The Golden Age 1907 - 1915
In 1902 divided back cards are introduced and feature the picture on the entire front of the postcard. The address has to be written at the back right side, while the left side is reserved for the message. This opens up the design potential and the golden age of postcards begins.
During 1906 Eastman Kodak enters the market with an affordable camera. This development sees a surge of interest in postcards as the public can now take black and white photographs and have them printed onto postcard backs.
During 1907 European card publishers begin opening offices in the United States and account for over 75 per cent of all postcards sold.
In 1908 the official figures from the U.S. Post Office cite over 677 million postcards mailed. (The total population in the US is just over 88 million!)
At this time in American history the postcard hobby becomes a public addiction.
Publishers print millions of cards in this era. Most postcards are printed in Germany, the world leader in lithographic processes. In 1914 the advent of World War I halts the supply of postcards from Germany.
Poorer quality postcards come from English and U.S. publishers. The lowered quality of the printed postcard, recurrent influenza epidemics, and WWI war shortages (1914–1918) causes a crash in the American postcard hobby.
During the war years wireless communication and the telephone replace the postcard as fast, reliable means of keeping in contact.
The cards of this era are usually printed with white borders around the picture.
American technology starts to advance and the United States begins producing higher quality cards.
Linen Card Era 1930 – 1945
Changing technology enables publishers to print cards on linen type paper stock with very bright and vivid colours. View and comic cards are the most often published.
Photochrome Era 1939 – Present
The Union Oil Series begins in 1939, launching the new era of photochrome cards. Photochromes are commonly called modern chromes and are still the most popular cards today.
The “Classic Irish” Postcard
In 1956 John Hinde, an English photographer, sets up his postcard business in Dublin. His nostalgic and meticulously shot photography becomes synonymous with Ireland.
Postcard racks featuring his distinctive work can still be found at tourist attractions throughout Ireland. The Irish Museum of Modern Art recognised his work with a retrospective in 1993.
Postcards in the 21st Century
Postcards continue to be a massive industry with ever advancing technology pushing the boundaries of image, print and paper quality.
A new generation of artists, innovative designers and photographers, stamp their mark on the modern day postcard.
Deltiology, along with coin and stamp collecting, is one of the three largest collectable hobbies in the world.
