History of Postcards

The history of postcards is a long and complex one that dates back to near the middle of the 19th century. First copyrighted by John P. Charlton in 1861, ownership of the term postcard changed hands various times up to the 20th century. Postcard collectors, known as deltiologists, still differentiate between the two resulting postcards: private postcards and postal cards sold by the government.

Up to 1898, the US government and the post office reserved the rights to sell pre-stamped postcards. Privately sold postcards were required to use other names for their cards. Thus, private sellers named their cards correspondence cards, souvenir cards, or even mail cards. The history of postcards during the 19th century seemed to be one dominated by laws. Besides restrictions regarding the naming of postcards, laws dictated that written messages were not allowed on the address side of the postcard. A final distinction between private and government-sold postcards during this era was the price, as government postcards were sold at one cent, while private souvenir cards cost two cents.

The history of postcards changed greatly in 1898, when laws permitted postcards to be sold by private businesses, though they were dubbed "Private Mailing Cards." In addition, the cards were permitted to be sold for the same price as government postcards - one cent. As a result, the sale of private postcards increased greatly. The advent of modern postcard design, including the divided back and photo cards, was also a major development in the early 20th century. Deltiology was the most popular hobby in America, with hundreds of millions of postcards being sold. This phenomenon did not wain until the 1930s and 40s, when the collapse of German postcard production facilities and new advances in communication, such as movies and the telephone, made postcards less popular.

Despite the wain of postcard popularity, collecting postcards is still one of the world's most popular hobbies today, along with stamp collecting. Christmas postcards are still a yearly tradition for many families, as people look to connect with relatives and reflect on the past year. If you would like to discuss the history of postcards with others, please register and participate in the CollectStampsandPostcards.com forum.