Pioneer Era
(1893-1898)
Although there were
earlier scattered issues, most pioneer cards in today's
collections begin with the cards placed on sale at
Chicago's Columbian Exposition in May of 1893. These were
illustrations on government printed postal cards and
privately printed souvenir cards. The government postal
cards had the printed 1˘ stamp while the souvenir cards
required a 2˘ adhesive postage stamp to be applied to it.
Writing was not permitted on the address side of the
cards.
Private Mailing Card Era
(1889-1901)
On May 19, 1898, private
printers were granted permission, by an act of Congress, to
print and sell cards that bore the inscription "Private
Mailing Card." Today some people call these cards PMCs.
Postage required was a 2˘ adhesive stamp. A dozen or more
American printers began to take postcards seriously. As
with the Pioneer Era cards, writing was not permitted on
the address side.
Post Card Era
(1901-1907)
The use of the words "POST
CARD" was granted to private printers by the U.S.
government on December 24, 1901. Writing was still not
permitted on the address side. In this era private citizens
began to take black & white photographs and have them
printed on paper with post card backs.
Divided Back Era
(1907-1914)
Postcards with a divided
back were permitted March 1, 1907. The address to be
written on the right side and the left side was for writing
messages. Many millions of cards were published in this
era. Up to this point most postcards were printed in
Germany, which was far ahead of the United States in the
lithographic processes. With the advent of World War I the
supply of postcards from Germany ended.
White Border Era
(1915-1930)
Most postcards during this
era were printed in the USA during this period. To save
ink, a border was left around the view thus they are
referred to as "White Border" cards. A high cost of labor,
inexperience and public taste caused production of poor
quality cards.
Linen Era
(1930-1944)
New production processes
allowed printing on post cards with high “rag”
content that caused a “linen-like” finish.
These inexpensive cards allowed the use of gaudy dyes for
coloring. The firm of Curt Teich flourished on their line
of linen postcards.
Photochrome Era (1945 to
present date)
The “chrome”
postcards started to dominate the scene soon after they
were launched by the Union Oil Company in their western
service stations in 1939.
Real
Photographs
Real photos are just that.
A photograph was taken and developed. A caption was often
hand-written on the negative, often glass. The photograph
was printed on special postcard stock. Many real photos are
one of a kind. Some were, relatively mass produced, usually
by a photographer. Some clues are that if the caption is
not neat, it probably was one of a kind. Mass produced
cards usually were neater. Some of them carry the name of
the photographer.
Source:
www.terrycallahan.com