There are several ways to date apparently undated postcards. This page provides some general methods for determining a time period or date for postcards.
Postcard producers printed cards that followed current postcard trends. dates can be approximated by the material and design of a postcard. our postcard history page provides information on these general trends. For example, a card printed on linen was probably produced between 1930 and 1945. However, it is important to remember that these dates and time periods are not specific, they are just generalizations of trends in the postcard industry.
The postage rate for postcards has changed over time and can be used to find an approximate date for postcards. Not all postcards have the required postage amount printed on them, so this method can only be used where the postage is known. The following list is postage for postcards sent within the United States.1
*postage fee for most government-produced postcards was $0.01. however, depending on the government-produced postcard, the postage could range from $0.01 to $0.04.2; postage for privately produced postcards was $0.02. this fee for privately produced postcards was lowered to $0.01 on May 19, 1898, with the passage of the Private Postcard Act.
In the early stages of postcard production, government-produced postcards varied in size, depending on the type of postcard.3 Privately produced postcards, also known as private postcards, did not need to comply with the restrictions governmental. On June 1, 1878, the General Postal Union, an international postal organization, signed a new treaty, changing its name to the Universal Postal Union. this treaty set the maximum size of postcards produced by the governments of member countries at 3.5 x 5.5 inches.4
the private postcard law of May 19, 1898 stipulated that private postcards measure 3.25 x 5.5 inches. after 1901, postcards generally measured 3.5 x 5.5 inches, although there are variations in size. in the 1960s, some printers began to produce 4 x 6-inch postcards. postcards today vary greatly in size and shape, making it more difficult to use size to date them, but if the size or shape of postcards differs from earlier standards, it’s safe to assume they were probably made in the last decades. .
brief technology & co., a postcard printing company, which operated from 1898 to 1978 and specialized in vista (panoramic view postcards) and advertising postcards. Curt Teich was the largest printer of this type of postcard in the world from the 1920s to the 1940s. Many of the postcards we have on file were printed by Curt Teich & co. it is easier to give an approximate date to short postcards because the printing numbers on the postcards correspond to the years of production. A wonderful wealth of images and information, this dating guide compiled by curt teich archives provides detailed information on printing numbers and postcard dates.
more resources
“postal history”, archives of the smithsonian institution.
“evolution of the smithsonian postcard”, archives of the smithsonian institution.
leah tams, “the mystery of the undated postcards,” the large picture (blog), smithsonian institution archives, 23 july 2013.
“curt teich’s guide to dating postcards,” (pdf) curt teich archives, newberry library.
“postal history”, US Postal Service.
national postal museum.
us postal commission. uu.
universal postal union.
footnotes
1 Postage rates for postcards were compiled from three independent sources. United States Department of Commerce, Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970, Bicentennial ed. (Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1976), 807; united states postal regulatory commission, “postcard rate history”, united states postal regulatory commission, last modified 2012, http://www.prc.gov/prc-docs/aboutprc/offices/pagr/table_postcard_ratehistory_1926.pdf ; usps historian, “rates for postcards stamped since 1873,” united states postal service, last modified january 2013, http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/postcard- rates-since-1873.htm.
2 For more details, see: Post Office Department, Annual Reports for Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1900. Postmaster General’s Report. Various Reports (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1900), 793-794.
3 For a detailed list of the different types and sizes of postcards, see: Post Office Department, Annual Reports for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1900. Report of the Postmaster General. Various Reports (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1900), 792-795.
4 Post Office Department, Report of the United States Postmaster General; being part of the message and documents communicated to the two houses of congress at the beginning of the third session of the forty-fifth congress (washington, dc: government printing office, 1878), 27.