Guide to Collecting Vintage Postcards

Vintage postcards are fun to collect. In fact, it is currently one of the top 5 hobbies. Luckily, many postcards can be had relatively cheaply, so beginning a collection can be started without a big investment. People often collect by particular style or type or by theme. For the beginning collector dating postcards is sometimes tricky as is trying to figure out what kind of card it is. So this hub will provide some general guidelines to help with the process.

Obviously, if a postcard is post-stamped we know it can not be any later than the date stamped. Written dates can also be a clue, however some unscrupulous sellers will deliberately date a postcard to make it appear old. Knowing something about the general styles may help a buyer determine the age of the card. In general there are 9 eras recognized in postcard collecting. They are:

1. Pioneer
2. Private Mailing Card
3. Real Photo (technically this isnt an era as they still exist even today)
4. Undivided Back
5. Divided Back
6. White Border
7. Linen
8. Chrome
9. Continental

The Pioneer cards usually are not labeled Postcard but may be called Souvenir or Mail Card. Some people include postal cards that have printed pictures or text added to them in this category,  Pioneer era cards were not eligible for the one-cent postage rate that applied to the government Postal Cards. Writing was not allowed on the stamp side, except for the address.  People often would write around the edge of or even through the picture as there was not much space for correspondence.

These were the first cards authorized by Congress to be privately printed, yet mailed at the same one-cent rate as the government post-office postal cards. By law these cards were required to be marked Private Mailing Card on the stamp side. No writing, other than the address, was allowed on the stamp side. Some pioneer era cards were re-stamped Private Mailing Card in order to get the lower postage rate.

Real Photo cards  are not defined by years as they are still produced. Starting around the turn of the century, they became quite popular they are actual photographs, printed on paper that has a post-card back. Beginners often have a hard time telling whether a card is a photo or a print.  An easy way to find out is by looking at the postcard under a magnifying glass,  Prints will show up as a series of small dots where real photos have a very clear image. 

Technically Undivided Back is not an entirely accurate categorization since Pioneer and Private Mailing Cards (as well as early real-photos) all had undivided backs as well, but this period marks the beginning of cards labeled Postcard or Post Card and having an undivided back. Private printers were authorized to use the term Postcard or Post Card instead of Private Mailing Card beginning December 24th, 1901, but you still couldn't write on the stamp side!

The Divided Back period, is also somewhat misleading, since almost all postcards produced since 1907 have divided backs. A better term might be Early Divided Back postcards. Authorized beginning March 1st, 1907, these cards finally allow for written messages on the stamp side, which is divided into two parts, often marked Address this side and Message can be written on this side or something similar. Now postcard makers could use the entire other side of the card for images, although for a while many cards continued to be printed from earlier printing plates that left white space on picture side to allow for writing. Plus, senders of cards finally had a decent space to write in!  These cards proved to be hugely popular and could adequately be termed the real start of the "penny postcard" .

The White Border period lasted approximately from 1915-1930. Many later cards also had white borders, but it was in this period that the style was introduced and became fashionable.  Probably the white border was made to resemble similar borders found on photographs.  Since most white border cards were taken from photographs (art cards of the same period rarely have white borders), the border makes them appear more like the photographs people were familiar with.

Linen cards sometimes have white or colored borders, while others are printed to the edge. Examining the picture you can see hatchwork lines similar to linen and often can feel the slightly raised effect. 

The Chrome era is characterized by the glossy color picture postcards that you can buy today. Like preceding cards, these generally measured about 3.5 x 5.5 inches. The larger Continental size occurs occasionally, as well as other odd sizes, but mostly the 3.5x5.5 is the most prevalent..

The Continental card is made by the same process as Chrome cards, but is a slightly larger format, usually about 4 x 6 inches. Although larger cards dominate this period, (including many odd sizes larger than the Continental, or smaller than standard cards) standard size cards continued to be produced in smaller numbers

Although the category labels are a great place to start, the classification scheme is not perfect.  First, it applies only to cards made in the U.S.A. or for the U.S. market. Second, there are numerous exceptions to each generalization, and cards that fit one description, but date from earlier or later than the expected period. These characteristics should be considered descriptive terms, and used as clues to the date, but are not sufficient in themselves to date any card with certainty. Another clue to age is the edge of a card.  In general if the card does not have a straight edge (id wavy, scalloped, etc.) it probably dates later than 1950.  Once you've handled a number of cards from different eras dating them becomes easier.  Soon you'll be able to glance at a card and know just by looking that it's a chrome or linen, etc.

 Most people end up collecting either by type of card or by theme.  Pets, flower, black memorabilia, real photo (called RPPC by collectors) and holidays are a few of the popular themes.  Holidays in particular are the most popular and the most expensive to buy.  Halloween cards and unusual Christmas Santas can fetch hundreds of dollars.

One other way people collect is by the artist or company that made the postcard.  Popular names for these collectors are Tuck, Clapsaddle, Winsch and Schmucker.

Whatever way you choose or if you collect without a theme you'll soon find them addictive.  Part of the fun is reading the backs which speak of a life totally removed from what we know today.  After all, back in the era of the penny postcard phones were either unheard of or really rare.  The postcard was the communication device of the day.  People wrote life's news, arranged meetings, told of days/times they would visit and just about anything else you can think of.  These little cards are snippets into our history.