A Brief History Of Picture Post Cards

A Brief History Of Picture Post Cards

For the purpose of clarification the term "Postal Card" refers to cards that were printed and sold by a governmental body on which postage paid indicia were preprinted on the cards themselves. The term "Postcard" refers to cards which were privately produced and were not sold with postage prepaid.
Until the middle of the 19th century, people mailed messages to each other via the privacy of sealed letters. The idea for the postal card originated in Germany in 1865. However, it was the Austrian government who, on October 1, 1869, issued the first postal card. The early postal cards had their detractors. Many people thought it improper to mail messages on cards that anyone, especially the servants, could read! But because postal cards could be mailed for much less than the normal letter rate, they soon became a hit with the general public.
The United States Post Office Department (USPOD) issued America's first postal card on May 13, 1873. The indicia on this buff-colored card depcits the bust of Liberty and the inscription "U S Postage - One Cent" in an oval. The card was issued on watermarked card stock. The watermark consists of the letters "U S P O D" in a 90mm x 60mm monogram. This watermark can be found in the normal position, inverted, reversed and inverted and reversed in combination. The Scott Catalogue has given the designation UX1 to this postal card.
In the United States, early postal cards were used mainly to mail commercial ads and information. The two images shown below depict an example of a UX1 with a printed ad on the reverse. It was mailed in Worcester in the late 1870s.

Front Of US Postal Card - UX1
Mailed From Worcester Circa 1878

Back Of US Postal Card - UX1
Mailed From Worcester Circa 1878
Showing Pre-Printed Commercial Ad

The year 1998 marked the 100th anniversary of the Picture Postcard in America. By an Act Of Congress on May 19, 1898, publishers of privately printed mailing cards, or postcards, were granted permission to sell cards to the general public that could be mailed at the same one-cent rate as the penny postal cards that were issued by the USPOD.

Front Of Postcard Issued By The College Of The Holy Cross
With Printed Text Highlighting
The Congressional Act Authorizing Private Post Cards
This Text Is Just To The Left Of The Stamp

Americans went wild for picture postcards and collecting these vignettes of life was a grand hobby. The first decade of the 20th century is considered the "Golden Age" of picture postcards. Although some picture post cards depicting America were printed in the United States, the majority of postcards sold in America were printed in Germany where lithography was an art.
Many publishers produced picture postcards of Worcester. Some identified publishers are J I Williams, Rawson Post Card Co, Hugh C Leighton, A P Lundborg, Rotograph and SPC. Usually these publishers applied identifying markings to the fronts and backs of their cards, such a negative number. Other cards are identified only by the layout of the markings on their backs.
Besides colored lithography, many postcards were produced as photos directly from negatives. These are referred to as "Real Photo" cards. Unlike their more colorful lithographic cousins, real photo cards were produced in black and white or sepia tones. Because these real photo cards were true photographs, postcard collectors usually consider these as more collectible than lithographic cards for their unaltered presentation of the life and times of the early 20th century. Below is an example of a real photo card which depicts Lake Quinsigamond.

Real Photo Post Card of Lake Quinsigamond
Worcester Photo Company

The Worcester picture postcards depicted on the pages that accompany this introduction were produced mainly by Rawson, Leighton and an unidentified printer which I call Back No 1. They have been selected from my personal collection of over 3000 different Worcester postcards. I hope you enjoy these colorful views of Worcester, Massachusetts, my Home Town!

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