Until recently, letters were the most widely used means of communication. But then they kicked off postcards as a new method of communication; of course, before the advent of the computer and the internet. A way to contact both friends and family comfortably, when one goes on a trip.
Today there may still be some people who still use them, but with the current digital era and so many ways to send greetings, information, videos, calls, among others, no matter where we are, it is somewhat difficult to think that they can still continue to communicate through this system of postcards.
However, in its time it had its heyday, its golden age. Nowadays there are many collectors who pay any amount to obtain those postcards that are still missing in their large collection. The following is an account of the origin and history of postcards.
How did postcards begin?
The postcard owes its origin to two characters: Heinrich Von Stephan and Austrian Emanuel Herrmann. In 1869, the latter published in the press an article called “About a new means of postal correspondence”. In this article he mentioned the possibilities of being able to save the costs in relation to the traditional mail of the letters, by means of these postcards.
Emanuel Herrmann
That is, it would be a card about the size of an envelope, which would have two sides. On one side it would have the postmark and on the other side a space to write a short text from the sender to the receiver. Therefore, envelopes and paper would be saved, since the postcard would not be needed.
We should mention that Heinrich Von Stephan, years before Emanuel, had proposed something similar in Karlsruhe at a conference, explaining about a cardboard card measuring more or less 12 by 16 and bearing only the postmark and a blank space on the back for a brief writing. In this way it was possible to save half as much as a normal letter.
But this proposal did not prosper and they claimed that, since they did not have an envelope, the privacy of the communiqué would be exposed; so it was rejected by the postmaster, who was their boss at the time. Then Mr. Stephan, seeing the reejction of his proposal, made a written pamphlet with all the explanation and distributed it among the representatives of the conference.
On the other hand, Mr. Herrmann, a professor in Vienna, did succeed in proposing it, because from the beginning he warned that these cards would only be used to communicate everyday, brief and not at all intimate aspects. Then, on the first day of October of the same year 1869, the Austro-Hungarian post office made public to the world the first postcard, which left the district of Perg, in the upper part of Austria, to arrive at Kirchdorf in Germany.
Heinrich Von Stephan
The postcard arrived the next day. It was stamped, without an envelope, with the address on one side and the message on the other. The idea was soon accepted by Adolf Maly, Vienna’s postmaster, who subsequently authorized the new circulation of these cards through the mail. Subsequently, one and a half million were sold in the first month, as the low cost and novelty were very attractive.
Moreover, since they were very easy to use, there would be a new market to enter: people with low literacy. But then, due to the lack of privacy they had, some rules were established. Among them, they had to measure 14 by 9 centimeters, and it was also mandatory that they had to have the wording “postcard”; they also had to be signed and no insults were allowed.
Then the other countries began to issue their own postcards. For example, in 1870 the British post office “The Kingdom of Württemberg and Switzerland”. Then in 1871 Canada and France. By 1873 the United States, then in 1874 Italy. Then Argentina in 1878.
In addition, in 1874 the “Universal Postal Union” was created, which allowed postcards from each country to be accepted by all post offices abroad, that is, anywhere in the world. Also, companies saw the great opportunity to advertise their brands on these postcards, thanks to the low cost and the fact that they would be seen by many people, and the backs of the postcards began to be covered with advertisements.
Until 1890 this monopoly on the issuance of postcards was handled by the post office. But at the beginning of the next century, private publishers and images were allowed to enter the market. We can observe the great boom of the postcards already by the end of the XIX and beginning of the XX century, assuring the success in the most popular classes.
When did illustrate postcards begin to be marketed?
Although it is not known exactly when this commercialization with the illustrations began, it is estimated around 1893, to be sold to the general public in Chicago during the Universal Exposition. But we must clarify that at the beginning they did not have images, and it was thanks to the photographers that they saw the opportunity to place the illustrations on the postcards.
However, the fullness of postcards in this sense was closely related to mass tourism. They had the need to share the beautiful landscapes and cities they visited. In this way photography was able to join postcards, especially around 1902, when the British modified the face where the address is placed to allow it to be written in the middle of it.
The reverse side was then free and the new image could be placed on it, depicting portraits, landscapes, humorous scenes, royal visits, exhibitions, among others. In addition, enthusiasm for collecting these cards was also encouraged, especially since the founding of a club for collectors in 1897.
This remained in operation until the First World War. Today, thousands of collectors from all over the world have revived this initiative and continue to communicate with each other by sending these cards via the Internet.
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