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How to Date Old Postcards

The first postcard ever to be issued was the "Lipman Postal Card," published in 1861 by H.L. Lipman of Philadelphia. Only four of these now survive, but the succeeding decades saw the creation of many fine postcards, whether color pictorial examples or photographic. You should be able to date an early postcard by being alert to a few simple clues.

Instructions

- 1
  Look at the printing process used on color illustrated cards. Many cards before 1895 were printed chromolithographically, a high quality process which resulted in rich colors and an attractive glossy finish. The best chromolithographic cards were printed in Germany, so look for the words "Chromographed in Saxony" or "Gruss aus," meaning "Greetings from."
- 2
  Check for hand-coloring on black and white photographic cards --- you will notice that the colors sit oddly on top of the grainy image. Before 1920, hand-coloring was still inexpensive as labor was cheap.
- 3
  Inspect the back of the card. On early cards the address fills the whole of the back, then in the 1900s --- 1907 in the U.S. --- modern-style "divided-back" cards were legalized, where half of the back is given over to the message.
- 4
  Look for handwritten messages on the illustrated side as another way of identifying very early cards. This links back to the previous step. Because there was no space on the back of the card to write a message, it has to go on the front around the edges of the illustration.
- 5
  Check the franking on used cards. The stamp on a used card should carry an ink cancellation which will usually bear an exact date.

Postcard Collecting