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Facts About Postcards

For travelers, postcards are a visual documentation of where they are and have been that they can send to friends and family far away. Postcards are visual artifacts of history, and, depicting images that range from pictures to paintings, they are also a form of art. In the early 2000s, they are collected, sold and traded everywhere, but postcards also faced difficult periods, including when they were a banned import during World War 1.

History
- In 1861, John Charlton of Philadelphia created the first private postal card, called "Lipman's Postal Card, Patent Applied For." Government postcards came onto the market in 1873. Postcards were novelties because of the pictures and designs that they used. By 1907, millions of postcards were in circulation, and in 1906, Eastman Kodak made a camera called the "Folding Pocket Camera" to create postcards out of photographs.
  
  Postcard use declined during World War I, as Germany was one of the main producers of postcards, and there were potential problems such as influenza epidemics spreading across country borders. However, advancing print technology brought about a new age of postcards after World War II. Postcards began to be printed in color, depicting pictures, historical buildings, national parks and exotic sceneries. In 2011, postcards can be found in post offices and drug stores, as well as almost any gas station and airport.
Sizes
- Most cards today are continental size, which is 4 by 6 inches. The United States Postal Service (USPS) regulates the sizes and shapes of American postcards. Postcards are not allowed to have rounded corners. USPS qualifies postcards as rectangular in shape, at least 3 1/2 inches high and 5 inches long and .007 inches thick. If larger than this, USPS considers the postcard to be a letter, whether a single sheet or not. However, you do not have to pay extra unless the postcard is over 6 1/8 inches high by 11 1/2 inches wide and 1/4 inches thick. The standard sizes for postcards go up to 5.5 by 8.5 inches.
Terminology
- Certain terminology about postcards is important, particularly for collectors but also if you want to know the facts about paper, history and other details. For instance, a composite postcard is a photograph with two separate images printed on the same photo paper. Albumen print is a special kind of postcard with an image printed on the paper using the white of an egg or albumen mixed with whey, then mixed with iodide potassium. Albumen cards have a brown, yellow or purple tone. Chrome postcards are any cards made after 1939 with a shiny paper surface.
  
  Traders mostly look for chrome postcards. Gelatin Silver Developing Out (Silver Print) is a type of postcard-making process that is still used in the early 21st century, though it started in the 1870s. The silver in the dark areas of the postcard is visible only in certain light and at particular angles.
Collectibles
- Deltiology is the collection and study of postcards. A person who conducts research on postcards is called a deltiologist. In Greek, deltiology means the science or study of small pictures or cards (deltion).
  
  Collectors use a rating system to determine the quality of a postcard. A mint card is perfect, as if right off the printing press; it has no bends, marks or creases, nor writing or postmarks. A fair card is intact but shows signs of excess oil, stains, creases and writing. Postcards that have no bends or creases or blunt corners, but are postally marked with a clean fresh front or picture are considered excellent. Collectors keep postcards separate with acid-free paper, glassine or Myline to prevent ink from transferring. Under no circumstances should postcards to be collected spend too much time in direct sunlight. OldPostOffice.com lists prices of postcards depending on age, condition and postmark. On average, a very good postcard is over $20 with most averaging about $10, as of 2011.

Postcard Collecting