Ed Walsh's Police Memorabilia Web Site City of Taunton Postcards
1873 - Pioneer Age - The Post Office authorized postal cards for use in 1873. The initial post cards were specifically used for advertising or notice.
1890 – 1915 - The Golden Age
1898 – 1907 – Undivided backs. Only the address could be written on the back of the cards.
1907 – 1918 – Divided backs. Half the card was reserved for the address and the other half for a message.
A large percentage of the post cards produced during the Golden Age were printed in Germany. The start of World War I impacted this production.
1920 – 1930 - The majority of postal cards from this period were produced by the Curt Teich Company. We also see the introduction of the white border which reduced printing costs as well as the introduction of linen cards in the 1930s.
The use of post cards declined with the introduction of the telephone which allowed for instantaneous communication.
Real Picture Post Cards (RPPC) were introduced in 1903 and continue to this day. As the name implies, the postcard is an actual photograph.
In my collection there are numerous post cards of the same scene. The original scene has been printed by numerous companies over time with alterations to color, and sometimes the scene is edited to remove people or objects. Most post cards have identifying information such as the printer or a item number. Most early post cards were printed in Germany, but the American distributer’s name is listed instead of the German printer.