The use of the word "POST CARD/POSTCARD" (as one
or two words) was granted by the government to private printers on Dec. 24, 1901.
Writing was still not permitted on
the address side. The publishing of
printed postcards during this time frame doubled almost every six months. European publishers opened offices in the
U.S. and imported millions of high quality postcards. By 1907, European publishers accounted for
over 75% of all postcards sold in the U.S. The vogue of lithographed cards caught
Eastman-Kodak's attention as well. They
issued an affordable "Folding Pocket Kodak" camera around 1906. This allowed the mass public to take black
& white photographs and have them printed directly onto paper with postcard
backs. Various other models of Kodak
"postcard" cameras followed igniting a real photo postcard era. These cameras shared two neat features:
their negatives were postcard size (the major reason why so many of these
images are so clear) and they had a small thin door on the rear of their bodies
that, when lifted, enabled the photographer to write an identifying caption or
comment on the negative itself with an attached metal scribe.
Note: 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 postcards
mailed. That was at a time when the
total population of the U.S. was 88,700,000.
This web site
is owned and maintained by James M. Luty.
Please email any questions or comments to Jim@WaynesboroPaPostcards.com.