It used to be
thought that "most" pioneer cards began with the colorful postcards
placed on sale at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois, on May 1,
1893. Those postcards are of
illustrations of buildings and views of the Exposition printed on government
postal cards and those printed on privately published souvenir cards. The government postal cards had a printed
1 cent stamp while the souvenir cards required a 2 cent postage stamp to be
applied to them.
Recent detailed studies by advanced collectors have shed light on even earlier
advertising postcards in this early postcard era. The greatest concentrations of these
postcards are from New York, Philadelphia, and other large metro areas in the
U.S. and abroad. The earliest known
postcard (as of Sept. 1996) is postmarked Dec. 1848! No doubt the further study of this area of
postcard collecting will reveal many more postcards from the 1848 to 1893 time
line.
Most pre-1898 postcards share a few common traits: The postcard of this era is
characterized by an undivided back (no line going down the center of the back
of the postcard), and many contain printed lines on the back for the name of
the addressee and his address only. Pioneer
U.S. postcards are mostly from big Eastern cities.
Side Note: During this time only the government was allowed to use the word
"POSTCARD" (one word) 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. Government cards will also have an
imprinted Grant or Jefferson head 1 cent stamp on them. Private postcards required 2 cent postage.
This web site
is owned and maintained by James M. Luty.
Please email any questions or comments to Jim@WaynesboroPaPostcards.com.