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DESCRIBING and IDENTIFYING U.S. POSTCARDS The most typical ways to describe postcards follow: ERA DESIGNATIONS ERA DESIGNATIONS describe the style of the card based on chronological periods. This helps to fix the age of a postcard. PIONEER POSTCARDS are the earliest postcards and may be dated from 1867 to June 30, 1898. Pioneers may be Viewcards, Correspondence cards, Expo cards, or Advertising cards. These cards were printed by private publishers and are usually distinguished by the Card Title on the back such as Mail Card, Souvenir Card, Private Card, etc. Positive identification may be tricky since some Pioneers were titled Post Card on the back and some cards with Souvenir Card backs are not pioneers. The best way to positively identify pioneers is to identify the publishers and to use a catalog. We have just published the authoritative book on Pioneers, "The Birth and Development of American Postcards." Detailed information on the book is available at http://www.classicards.com/ Note that there are many Pioneer-like cards that are from the next category. PRIVATE MAILING CARDS are postcards published on OR AFTER JULY 1, 1898 with the inscription on the back, "Private Mailing Card - Authorized by Act of Congress, May 19, 1898. Note that some of these cards are Pioneers that were overprinted or reprinted to conform to the changing Postal Regulations. UNDIVIDED BACK POSTCARDS are postcards printed from December 24, 1901 to March 1, 1907. The USPO Dept required "Nothing but the Address" on the back of postcards during this period so people continued to write messages on the front of cards DIVIDED BACK POSTCARDS started on March 1, 1907. Many formats were used.
POSTCARD TYPES POSTCARD TYPES are different styles of presentation which tend to identify typical printing and reproduction methods. LITHOGRAPHED POSTCARDS were the earliest and most beautiful cards produced. They were fairly common in the Pioneer and PMC periods and were frequently imported from overseas. WHITE BORDER POSTCARDS were developed in 1915 when the first Wold War prevented the impot of cards printed overseas. This style of postcard was in vogue until 1930. LINEN POSTCARDS were used from 1930 to 1945 and are so named because of the linen type of look and uneven feel of the cards. CHROME POSTCARDS were introduced in 1939 and continue to be the current style of postcard. They tend to be glossy and slick in appearance. There are some black and white cards but most were printed in color. REAL PHOTO POSTCARDS started around 1900 and have been used continuously, to this day. These cards may be matte finished or glossy and contain pictures of people, scenes, or events. Some were made by individuals while others were made by photographers and sold as souvenirs. The marking in the stamp box on the back of an unused card can frequently help to determine the age of the card as the following partial list indicates: VELOX = 1901-1920 CYKO = 1904-1920's EKKP = 1904-1950 ARGO = 1905-1920 NOKO = 1907-1920's DOPS = 1937-1942 |
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