| Collecting
Post Cards
A postal card
is a typically rectangular piece of thick paper
or thin cardboard intended to write on and be
mailed without an envelope and at a lower rate
than a letter. It is distinguished by stamp collectors
from a postcard in that the postage is pre-printed
on it whereas a postcard requires a stamp. A postal
card is issued by a stamp-issuing authority (typically
a country) whereas a postcard is usually printed
by a private company, individual or organisation.
In the art-world the postcard can also be transferred
into an art-object. The artform where this is
done is called mail art. The collection of postcards
is called "deltiology".
Postcards had
a long pre-history before they hit it big, but
their breakout came in 1893 at the World Columbian
Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. Shortly thereafter
the United States federal government, via the
United States Postal Service, allowed printers--for
the first--to publish 1-cent postcards, although
the correspondent's writing was only allowed on
the front.
"Undivided
back" cards with the word "Post Card"
printed on the back (the side without the picture)
came in 1901, although writing was still restricted
to the front. This is what gives the era its name.
The back was not yet divided into a space for
writing and a space for the recipient's address.
The "divided
back" card came into use in 1907 with the
approval of the United States Postal Service.
This era--the Golden Age of American postcards--lasted
until about 1915, and ended because of the war
in Europe, which affected the business because
of increasing war-related tariffs and because
many of the country's postcards were printed in
Germany or other parts of Europe, which were believed
to have better printing methods.
The "white
border" era, named for obvious reasons, lasted
from about 1916 to 1930. The "linen card"
era lasted from about 1930 to 1945, when cards
were primarily printed on papers with a high rag
content. The last era, beginning in about 1939
and the one we are still in today is the "photochrome"
or "chrome" era. The images on these
cards are generally based on photographs, rather
than paintings or illustrations, and are marked
by their extremely glossy appearance |
