The History of Postcards

Sending postcards is a great way to keep in touch with loved ones away from home. They are small and less expensive to mail than regular letters. Knowing the history of postcards gives us a better understanding of when and how postcards became a popular means to keep in touch with friends and family.

Postcards, in 1840-1869 were small and usually hand delivered. It wasn’t until 1861 that the first postcards were developed and privately printed by a man from Philadelphia. His name was John P. Carlton. He was able to get the copyright of these postcards from H.L. Lipman. The only adornment on them was a border and the label “Lipman’s Postal Card, Patent Applied For”.

The first postcards to have pictures on them didn’t come out until 1870. The first advertisement postcard came from England in 1872. The Germans came out with their own postcards in 1874. In 1889 the Heligoland was the first postcard printed that was multi-colored.

In 1873, pre-stamped postcards were issued and the only ones who were allowed to print these postcards were the United States Postal Service. In May of 1898, congress passed as law allowing private printers to print these pre-stamped cards but only if the words “Private Mailing Card” was printed on them.

The first picture postcards came out in the early 1900’s where pictures were developed on film stock paper. Once these picture postcards became more popular the postcard industry boomed and is still going strong today.