How can I date my American postcards?

The identification of a postcard's time of production can be a difficult task, due to the fact that postcards, unlike stamps, were produced in a decentralized, unregulated manner. That being said, there are some general rules to dating when a postcard was printed.

Postcards are generally sent within a few years of their printing so the postmark helps date a postcard. If the card is original and not a reprint, a postcard's original printing date can be deduced from such things as the fashions worn by people in the card, the era in which the cars on the street were made, and other time sensitive clues.

Another way to get a rough estimate of the year a postcard was printed is to determine the postcard era in which it was printed. The following list should help you get started dating your postcards.

1893-1898 Pioneer (P)
During this time only the government was allowed to use the word "Postcard" on the back of the postcard. Privately published postcards in this era will have the titles "Souvenir Card", "Correspondence Card", or "Mail Card" on the back.


1898-1901 Private Mailing Card (PMC)
In 1898, by an act of Congress, private printers were granted permission to print and sell cards that bore the inscription "Private Mailing Card". Postcards of this era have undivided backs. During this period around 1900, Real Photo postcards (postcards on film stock) began to filter into use.

1901-1907 The Undivided Back (UB)
Cards from this era have the word "Post Card" printed on the reverse. Written messages were still restricted to the front side, with the entire back dedicated to the address. This "undivided back" is what gives this postcard era its name.

"At the end of this period in time, the picture postcard hobby became the greatest collectible hobby that the World has ever known. The official figures from the U.S. Post Office for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1908, cite 677,777,798 postcard mailed. That was at a time when the total population of the U.S. was 88,700,000."

1907-1915 The Divided Back (DB)
The divided back card, with space for a message on the address side, began the Golden Age of American postcards, which lasted until about 1915, when World War I blocked the import of the fine German-printed cards.





1915-1930 The White Border (WB)
After WWI, the German publishing industry was never rebuilt. Most locally available postcards were printed by U.S. publishers during this period. On view postcards, to save ink, a white border was left around the view, thus we call them "White Border" postcards.





1930-1945 The Linen (L)
New American printing processes allowed printing on postcards with a high rag content. The rag content gave these postcards a textured feel. They were also cheaper to produce and allowed the use of bright dyes for image coloring. They proved to be extremely popular with roadside establishments seeking cheap advertising.




1945-1970 The Chrome
A new type of postcard, the color Photochrome (called Chrome) appeared around 1939. These "Chrome" postcards started to dominate the scene soon after they were launched by the Union Oil Company in their western service stations in 1939. They were easily produced, of high photo quality and most importantly, they were in color.


Image Source

How can I Start Building my Postcard Collection?

A quick question from Scott: "I am a new postcard collector. Can you give me any advice on how to start building my collection?"

1. Buy Bulk Lots - Some postcard dealers offer lots of 50 or so cards in a certain category like holidays, or animals. This is a great place to get started if want to collect broad categories. Cards are usually sold cheap and it will give you a general feeling for each category.
   
2. Buy at Postcard Shows - Postcard shows are a great place to learn and pick up cards because there are thousands of postcards for you to look at and many of professional dealers to question.
   
3. Buy at Auction - Auctions, like Cherryland Auctions, are a great place to get better quality cards at reasonable prices. This is where you will find many of the best cards.
   
4. Buy on Approval - Some postcard dealers offer their stock to customers on an approval system. You can pick a topic and receive a group of cards in the mail. You can pick and pay for the ones you want to keep and send back the rest.
   

The Work of Alphonse Mucha

Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939) produced a flurry of paintings, posters, advertisements, and postcards, as well as designs for jewelry, carpets, wallpaper, and theater sets in what came to be known as the Art Nouveau style.

Mucha's works frequently featured beautiful young women in flowing vaguely Neoclassical looking robes, often surrounded by lush flowers which sometimes formed halos behind the women's heads.

More on Mucha

Louis Wain Postcards

Louis Wain (1860-1939) was an English artist best known for his drawings, which consistently featured anthro pomorphised large-eyed cats and kittens.

Wain's cats walk upright, smile broadly, use other exaggerated facial expressions, and wear sophisticated contemporary clothing. Wain's illustrations showed cats playing musical instruments, serving tea, playing cards, fishing, smoking, and enjoying a night at the opera.

In his later years he suffered from schizophrenia, which, according to some psychologists, can be seen in his works.

Catland Louis Wain Site

How Can I Recognize Real B&W Photo Postcards?

People often ask how to recognize Real B&W Photo postcards. The easiest way is to look at the card under slight magnification. Actual photographs don't have the dot pattern seen on modern cards under a magnifying glass.

Most printed cards will have this dot pattern, much like a photograph printed in a magazine. Additionally, Real Photos can be identified by the photographic paper used. This is often indicated on the back. Also, the captions were often "scratched" or marked on the negative in some other way that leaves the text white in color.

http://www.cycleback.com/photoguide/postcard.html
http://www.madinpursuit.com/Tutorials/Postcards/PostcardRef2.htm

Hold-to-light Postcards - Die Cut & Transparencies

Hold-to-light (HTL) postcards come in two types: die-cut and transparencies. Die-cut HTL cards have a design cut out of the card and that part is covered with thinner paper. When the card is held to a light, it comes through the thinner paper with a design.

A simple example would be a stained glass window with the windows cut out and covered with paper.

Transparencies are not cut out but are made of three different layers of paper. The middle layer has a hidden design which is usually related to the front design. Objects, characters, colors, or scenes appear magically when the postcard is held in front of a strong light.

An example would be a secret message that appears only in strong light.

We have a number of each type of HTL card in our current auction at Cherryland Auctions.

Who is Bonzo the Dog?

Bonzo the dog is a fictional character created by British artist George E. Studdy in the early 1920s.

He was a chubby little white pup with sparse black spots, a stubby tail and big blue eyes. Bonzo the Dog became the inspiration for much commercial merchandise and was printed on a multitude of postcards.

Bonzo The Dog was featured in 26 Animated Silent Cartoons from 1924 to 1925 made by New Era Films Ltd in the UK. These are now rare and lost cartoons with only a few surviving, at least 8 are known to exist in some form.

What's a Billiken?

The Billiken was a charm doll created by an American art teacher and illustrator, Ms. Florence Pretz of Kansas City, Missouri, who is said to have seen the mysterious figure in a dream. In 1908 she patented the Billiken who was elf-like with pointed ears, a mischievous smile, and a tuft a hair on his pointed head. His arms were short and he was generally sitting with his legs stretched out in front of him.

The Billiken was one of the first copyrighted dolls and the first likenesses of the Billiken appeared on banks, statues and postcards in 1909.

After a few brief years of popularity, like many other fad toys, the Billiken faded into obscurity.

How can I care for my postcards?

There are some definite things to avoid:

1. Don't store postcards in plastic containers for long periods of time.
2. Never keep them in the film & sticky back kind of photo album!
3. Keep them away from old craft/pulp paper style albums. These inexpensive papers contain high amounts of acid.
   

"Postcards should be kept in acid-free, archival quality storage materials, away from light. Many serious collectors keep at least their best cards in Mylar (a polyester film) or polyethylene sleeves or in special archival storage boxes or pages."

"In general, most archivists consider polyethylene, polypropylene, and Mylar stable storage media. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is a cheaper plastic, but contains plasticizers that can migrate, leaving an oily residue on your postcards over time. One can recognize PVC by its distinct "plastic" smell. Archival quality materials generally have very little (if any) odor."

http://www.overanalysis.org/postcards/faqsec1.htm

English Hand-Painted Monster Postcards

This is a set of hand-painted monster postcards from England. Included in this series are a number of very strange and mostly unheard of creatures featuring art by Charles R. Stanton.

The monster's names are:
The Flootenpusher
The Bejangerweazel
The Jacko-Mackacko
The Opopanoddle

These cards have divided backs and are in very fine condition. They were published by C.W. Faulkner & Co., LTD and are from Series 1127.