Postcards

Also called deltiology.

Typical period: 1890–1945

The back of the card dates it more precisely than the front. Postal regulations changed at known dates and the layout changed with them, which gives a clean chronology.

What you are looking at

Card-stock images with a printed picture on one side and an address side on the reverse.

How to date it

Undivided back — the whole reverse for the address only, message on the front. US: 1901 to 1907.
Divided back — a line down the reverse separating message and address. US: 1907 onward.
White border around the image: roughly 1915 to 1930.
Linen texture, bright inks: roughly 1930 to 1945.
Photochrome, glossy: 1939 onward and dominant after the war.
Real photo postcards are actual photographic prints on postcard stock; the stamp box design dates them, and manufacturer tables are published.

Spotting a reproduction

Modern reprints of popular views are common and usually have a modern glossy surface and dot-screen printing under a lens.
A postmark dates when it was posted, not when it was printed — cards were held for years.

What it is worth

The overwhelming majority are worth under a pound. Value comes from subject rather than age — small-town main streets, disasters, real photo cards of identifiable people and places, and specific collecting niches.

Confused with

Trade cards

Advertising cards from the 1870s and 1880s, not postally intended, and usually with an advertisement rather than an address side.

Questions about this

How do you date postcards?

Undivided back — the whole reverse for the address only, message on the front. US: 1901 to 1907. Divided back — a line down the reverse separating message and address. US: 1907 onward.

How do you spot a reproduction?

Modern reprints of popular views are common and usually have a modern glossy surface and dot-screen printing under a lens.