After WWI, the German publishing industry was never rebuilt.
Other European publishers were
forced out of the U.S. market by high tariff rates. 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. The higher costs of
post-war publishing combined with inexperienced labor caused production of
poorer quality cards. The public
rapidly lost interest. "Movies"
replaced postcards as a visual experience. Higher competition in a rapidly narrowing
market caused many publishers to go out of business. Real photo postcard publishers, on the
other hand, enjoyed great success. Various
types of rotary drum negative imprinters allowed runs of 1000s of postcards of
a particular image. Roadside
postcard racks contained a great variety of these images.
Note: Another notable exception to the "poor
quality" of this time frame are the European
"Hand Tinted" postcards of France and Belgium. These were photo postcards of all topics
and subjects which were colored by hand to lend a realistic or stylized look. Some are truly works of art. Unfortunately this brief era ended
abruptly also. Coloring of the
postcards was accomplished by teams of trained women artists sitting in a
circle or row in a room. The
postcard images were passed down the line from one girl to another, each being
responsible for one color. To get
the fine detail needed for working on the relatively small postcard images, the
women wetted the tip of their cotton covered brushes with their lips as they
worked. Eventually the lead in the
paint they used led to illnesses forcing the discontinuation of this type of
postcard.
This web site
is owned and maintained by James M. Luty. Please email any questions or comments to Jim@WaynesboroPaPostcards.com.