Postcards

Postcards have been around for quite a while. The earliest post marked card is dated 1848. A Philadelphia man patented them in 1861 and they were primarily advertising vehicles and in black and white. The Post Office got in the business in the latter part of the 19th Century, issuing their own Postcards with the postage of 1 Cent already printed on it. If you used a non-government Postcard, the postage was twice that or 2 Cents. (There is a political comment available here about business competing with the government, but I will resist, letting the reader draw their own lesson here.)




Eastman Kodak cleverly created a personal camera that allowed one to take a picture and have it come out as a Postcard which took Postcards into a new league as people took pictures of their families, tragedies and events and mailed them -- something like Facebook today, but with stamps affixed.




When color printing became affordable, Postcards adopted color. Some of the more striking ones are the hand drawn and tinted ones printed on linen card stock.





While Postcards today are mostly of the "wish you were here" variety, advertising using postcards is still a vital part of many marketing campaigns, and mine is no exception, as I will soon join the ranks of Postcard marketing.








Of course, I can't send my Postcards out yet! I'll have to wait until my book is actually published!!!