In late February, the US Congress passed an act that allowed privately printed cards, weighing one ounce or less, to be sent in the mail.Later that year, John P. Charlton from Philadelphia patented a To top it off, the recipient was the one who used to bear the cost of sending the letter. All matter of subjects were photographed with topographics (urban street scenes and general views) being a recurrent topic. It shows the history of how and why people mailed things, mailing preferences, innovations in printing images, and even in international laws. Already in 1777, French engraver Demaison published in Paris a sheet of cards with greetings on them, meant to be cut and sent through the local post, but people were wary of servants reading their messages... so the idea was not very well received. It was cheap and convenient to send them, and postcard-obsession reached its peak in the Edwardian era with billions of them being sent every year. 3A Folding Pocket Kodak. By 1874, Italy, Romania and Serbia had also began to issue theirs. Prior to postcards came the lithograph prints, woodcuts andsmall cards that were the predecessor of the "mailed" postcard. First restricted by size, color, and other regulations, postcard production blossomed in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The association was active until the First World War, and at its peak counted with more than 15 000 members in Germany alone. ), postcards were effectively the text messages of their time. The study, creation and collection of maximum cards is called maximaphily. So he coded a website on his free time with the goal of connecting him with other people who also enjoyed sending and receiving postcards.

These first envelopes were produced by D. William Mulready, E.R.W.Hume, Dickey Doyle, and James Valentine. In the 1880s, many postcards were printed with small sketches or designs (called vignettes) on the message side, initially just in black, but increasingly also in color. Like any institution, the mail industry has undergone some tremendous changes that made it what it is today. This was the cheapest form of post provided to the Indian people to date and proved a huge success. Scenic landscapes, portraits, exhibitions, royal visits, humorous scenes or even current events were quickly printed in postcards shortly after taking place. [edan-image:id=siris_sic_13918,size=350,right] Postcards, as we are familiar with them today, have taken a considerable amount of time to develop. Postcards were popular because they were a quick and easy way for individuals to communicate with each other. Their history is inevitably linked with the development of the postal service, but also features innovations in printing and photography, daring proposals... and even a 300-meter tower! The many surviving examples of such postcards tell a vivid picture of the time. To date, over 52 million postcards have been exchanged through the platform, with thousands more on the way. Tracing back the origins of the picture postcard is difficult because postcards were not simply invented — instead, they evolved. Because of their texture resembling linen, these embossed postcards became known as The turn of the century saw the golden era of postcards. In 1903 Kodak introduced the No. The camera, designed for postcard-size film, allowed the general public to take photographs and have them printed on postcard backs, usually in the same dimensions (3-1/2" x 5-1/2") as standard vintage postcards. 1908 was also the year in which E. I. Dail, a salesman from Michigan, invented the However, it is important to remember that these dates and time periods are not concrete—they are only generalizations of trends in the postcard … The front side could then accommodate a full-size real photograph. Biography Stephan was born in Stolp (Słupsk) Pomerania in the Kingdom of Prussia. His recommendations impressed the Austrian Post, who put them to practice on It is not known whether Dr. Herrmann had any knowledge of Von Stephan's earlier proposal for a very similar card. He began his career as a local postal clerk in the service of the Prussian post in 1849. In 18 Despite this setback, Von Stephan was a prominent figure in the history of postal services in Germany. On July 14, 2005 The website platform was built by Paulo Magalhães, a Portuguese software engineer who loved receiving postcards but did not know many people he could exchange them with. Slowly, Germany came to dominate the industry of At the end of the decade, the Eiffel Tower made its debut on the The 1890s saw photography starting to be used in postcards, gradually increasing in popularity over the next few decades. The history of the postcard is an oft-overlooked, but intriguing thing. Following the popularization of printing presses, visiting cards, bill heads, writing paper and other types of paper ephemera started to have illustrations on them, often with delicate engravings and tasteful designs. He focused on the standardization and internationalization of postal services, and later helped establish the Universal Postal Union. In 1873, France, Serbia, Romania, Spain, Japan and the United States issued their own postcard offerings. Typically, multiple postcards were printed in rows on a large sheet of paper, which had to be trimmed around the edges of each postcard — a job that required a great deal of precision.