The Beginnings of the Post Card
The first known postcards originated in 1869 in
Hungary. The first printed card appeared in 1870. It was an
historical card that was designed with regard to the Franco-German
War. Postcards really became popular soon after they were produced
to display a picture of the Eiffel Tower in 1889 and 1890.
Postcards actually took a long time to develop in the United States
because of governmental postal regulations. The first type of postal
card in the U.S. was actually a postcard that was privately printed
and copyrighted in 1861 by J.P. Carlton. The copyright was later
transferred to H.L. Lipman and the postcards became known as the
“Lipman Postal Cards.” The postcards were later replaced in 1873 by
the United States Government Postals.
The earliest known exposition postcard in the U.S. depicted the main
building of the Inter-State Industrial Exposition in Chicago. These
types of cards were intended for advertising purposes, but later
became popular for souvenirs. In 1893, the first postcard intended
for souvenir purposes were sold at the Columbian Exposition in
Chicago. At that time, the privately printed cards required the
letter postage amount of two cents, whereas the government printed
postcards only required one cent.
The most significant event which increased the use of postcards was
the "Private Mailing Card" which was a result of an Act of Congress
in 1898. This Act allowed private mailing cards to be mailed with
one cent stamps, which was the same rate as government postcard
mailings. Writing was reserved for the picture side of the cards
only, as was the case with government cards.
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