Postcards From The Golden Age To Present

The golden age of postcards lasted from 1893 to 1915. Artist signed postcards are the most popular among collectors. These artists stood out from those who worked in anonymity because of their unique qualities or a great press agent. Their subjects varied from people to animals to quaint scenes. Some of these well know collectible postcard artists were Philip Borleau, Harrison Fisher, Kate Greenaway and Louis Wain.

Postcard collections can be divided into different eras and also into different types of condition, including mint, near mint, good and poor. The first famous postcards were from the pioneer era - where postcards were first sold at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in May of 1893. Famous and collectible postcards are also divided into three major categories -- those with views, which included national parks, towns, mountains and buildings; topics are those that show things such as Santa Claus, angels, holidays and animals (with a subcategory of "trade" cards which depict postcards from famous brand names such as Maxwell House Coffee, famous movies or famous books ) and foreign, which would include postcards from anywhere other than the United States. There are books available to help you find the most collectible famous postcards from the different eras and categories. A large number of such books were published by Arcadia Publishing in "The Postcard History Series.”

One can find these famous collectible postcards from various places - from a flea market, a trade show, from your relative’s old collections and mostly from sellers online. Online, you can find postcards from all the categories that range from Disney characters like Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horsecollar (rare postcard with "make an offer" as the price) to Fanny Farmer Candies 50th Street New York City Candy Shop.