Postcard History - Collecting Postcards - Souvenir Map Cards - Map Postcards for Sale

Postcard History

Welcome to MapPostcards.com, the one-stop website for old UK, Europe and rest of the world holiday souvenir postcards featuring miniature maps. In this section we take a look at the history of the postcard, from its earliest utilitarian function to the picture cards still popular with travellers and collectors today.

It's unthinkable, now, that anyone should not know what a postcard is. They have been around, and part of everyday life, for as long as any of us can remember. Today, not only are they functional as a means of communication, they have become part of our desire to 'collect'. Collecting postcards, either of general interest or themed, has become a rewarding and interesting pursuit for hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. This hobby is known as 'deltiology'

Postcards themselves have a relatively short history, in the grand scheme of things, dating from the time the 'postcard' was patented, in America, in 1861. This copyright was zealously protected, with only The Post Office being allowed to print postcards until an act of 1898 allowed private publishers to print them. These independently published cards did, however, have to be referred to as 'souvenir cards' and identified as 'Private Mailing Cards'.

The cards that most of us are familiar with today have a picture, or illustration of some sort, on the front face and the back is divided into two halves, one for the address and the other for a message. Originally the cards would have only the address on one side and the other side was for the message and/or image. It was 1907 before the Post Office allowed the 'divided back' to be introduced, allowing for both address and message, freeing up the other side for illustration. Before this, any message had to be written over or around any picture on the card. Thousands of millions of postcards were posted in the following years, commemorating events, famous buildings, locations etc. Between 1916 and 1930 cards with a white border around the picture were the 'in-thing' and then for the next 20 years or so cards with a linen-texture look were the most popular. The advent of the glossy, photographic image began about 1939 but didn't begin to 'lead the field' until the 1950s but they still maintain this lead, today.

In Britain, at first, the enthusiasm for postcards was less obvious than in America. Plain cards and advertising examples were in use but not in great numbers. Even after 1894, and the introduction of picture postcards, popularity was limited and their pictorial subjects were more usually location views rather than anything else. Attitudes began to change, however, after 1902. This was the year in which cards were published referencing the Boer War and celebrating Royal events. It was also the year in which the divided back was introduced therby allowing the front illustration its full glory. Increased use of pictorial postcards, from that time, was phenomenal. They were bought to convey short messages, for holidaymakers to contact friends and family, to keep as souvenirs of events or visits and so on. With a number of local deliveries every day they could be used to make last minute arrangements with the recipient.

Find hundreds of collectable map postcards from all around the United Kingdom, including counties in England, Wales, Scotland and N. Ireland, plus Europe and beyond with MapPostcards.com