page_title: Postcard
section_title: Golden age of postcards (ca. 1890 to 1915)
hierarchical_section_title: Postcard / Historical overview / Golden age of postcards (ca. 1890 to 1915)
caption_attribution_description: English: Austrian postcard, showing playing children
context_page_description: A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. There are novelty exceptions, such as wooden postcards, copper postcards sold in the Copper Country of the U.S. state of Michigan, and coconut "postcards" from tropical islands.
  In some places, one can send a postcard for a lower fee than a letter. Stamp collectors distinguish between postcards and postal cards. While a postcard is usually printed and sold by a private company, individual or organization, a postal card is issued by the relevant postal authority.
  Production of postcards blossomed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As an easy and quick way for individuals to communicate, they became extremely popular. The study and collecting of postcards is termed deltiology.
context_section_description: Cards showing images increased in number during the 1880s. Images of the newly built Eiffel Tower in 1889 and 1890 gave impetus to the postcard, leading to the so-called "golden age" of the picture postcard. This golden age began slightly earlier in Europe than the United States, likely due to a depression in the 1890s. Still, the Chicago World's Fair in 1893 excited many attendees with its line of "Official Souvenir" postals, which popularized the idea of picture postcards. The stage was now set for private postcard industry to boom, which it did once the United States government changed the postage rate for private cards from two cents to one in May 1898.
  
  Spanning from approximately 1905 to 1915 in the United States, the golden age of postcards stemmed from a combination of social, economic, and governmental factors. Demand for postcards increased, government restrictions on production loosened, and technological advances (in photography, printing, and mass production) made the boom possible. In addition, the expansion of Rural Free Delivery allowed mail to be delivered to more American households than ever before. Billions of postcards were mailed during the golden age, including nearly a billion per year in United States from 1905 to 1915, and 7 billion worldwide in 1905. Many postcards from this era were in fact never posted but directly acquired by collectors themselves.
  Despite years of incredible success, economic and government forces would ultimately spell the end of the golden age. The peak came sometime between 1907 and 1910 for the United States. In 1909, American publishers successfully lobbied to place tariffs on high quality German imports with the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act. The effects of tariffs really started to make a large impact, and escalating hostilities in Europe made it difficult to import cards and ink into the United States. The fad may have also simply run its natural course. The war disrupted production efforts in Europe, although postcard production did not entirely stop. Cards were still useful for propaganda, and for boosting troop morale.
caption: Austrian postcard from 1901.
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