How Old Is My Postcard? Part 4 - By: Richard Moody

The fifth postcard era is called the White Border Era since a common trait of these cards was a white border around the image. This era began after World War I ended the "Golden Age of Postcards" and ran from 1915 to 1930. World War I in Europe ended access to the high quality printers in Germany and the rest of Europe and American publishers fired up their presses to fill the void. American technology enabled printers to produce quality cards but the competition was so fierce that many publishers cut the quality to keep their prices competitive. Holiday, seasonal and greeting cards declined during this period but view cards remained in demand. It should be noted that some white border cards were seen before 1915 but they were not the norm.

The sixth postcard era is the Linen Era, 1930-1945, and is so named because of the linen like paper with a high rag content used in combination bright inks. Large quantities were produced and these postcards were considered cheap and were largely ignored until the 1990s. As the generation from this era began to graduate into their later years, interest began to pick up as many of the cards were local views of those towns where they grew up. Popular views included the small town street scenes, swimming pools, schools, factories, military bases, roadside motels and the LARGE LETTERS "Greetings from" postcards to give you an idea of what is available.

The seventh postcard era is the Photochrome Era and runs from 1939 to the present. The "Modern Chromes" that fill the postcard racks of today were introduced in 1939 by the Union Oil Series with various states represented on these advertising cards. Soon, several of the publishers including Curt Teich, Dexter Press, Plastichrome and Mike Roberts followed with postcards that were characterized by beautiful chrome colors on a slick finish. This group of cards has been growing in popularity in recent years since they document history from the 1960s forward that were not covered when the linen era finally ended. This series is, and will be, sought after by the "baby boomers" as they seek images of their formative years.

The fifth postcard era is called the White Border Era since a common trait of these cards was a white border around the image. This era began after World War I ended the "Golden Age of Postcards" and ran from 1915 to 1930. World War I in Europe ended access to the high quality printers in Germany and the rest of Europe and American publishers fired up their presses to fill the void.

Moody's Postcards has been accumulating vintage collectible postcards for twenty years. We specialize in United States view postcards but we also have thousands of antique foreign views, topical postcards and trade cards. www.moodyspostcards.com www.moodyspostcards.blogspot.com