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How Postcards Came To Be

One day I got a postcard in the mail. It was one of those days where I was constantly curious about how things came into existence.

This particular day I questioned where postcards came from.

I know this may sound weird but stick with me.

When I did a bit of research I found out that postcards weren't postcards when they first made their appearance.

In fact, they were birthed from envelopes that simply had pictures printed on them. This all came to be in the second half of the 1800's as the first postcard was sent in America. It was also copyrighted at that time.

And back in those days it was not about advertising. It was about sending someone a message.

Then in 1871 the postcards we know and love came into being.

Just 3 short years later marketing using postcards arrived.

What I found out was that it was in 1872 that post card marketing started. We can thank the English for this.

They weren't fancy as we have today. They were usually black and white with the occassional cards having one color.

As time went on and postcards developed, color arrived on the scene just before the 1900's.

Although I thought the road to marketing with postcards would be easy it turns out it wasn't. With numerous regulations, it had a bumpy start here in the United States.

Aside from the rules it was costly to add color to postcards. Two-sided printing just didn't exist either.

There wasn't a difference to mail a letter or a postcard either.

It seemed that Europe had to lead the way with postcards. They improved numerous aspects such as design and deliverability. They also lightened restrictions on it.

America followed suit and, as they say, the rest is history.

It was at this point forward in time that postcard marketing took off. The long identification phrase was eliminated and more room for printing opened up.

The price of sending a postcard dropped thus making them more appealing to use.

The quality of paper as well as making more room for words and pictures by the address was created as well.

With postcard marketing now costing less it really began to be used to spread advertising messages.

Nowadays who can resist using them in their marketing when for $200 you can get 1000's of full color postcards printed and mailed.

Even the Internet savvy business owners who market online are using postcards for offline marketing.

Why not?

A postcard is small and compact in size so that it is easy to carry around. They create great memories and are easy to give to other people.

Smart businesses use postcards for reminders, sending out company information to clients, they have a nice personal feel to them, and the list continues.

Postcards have come a long way from their humble beginnings. With many different advantages it is unlikely that we will see them disappear in the future.

Who would have thought that it would all start with printed graphics on an envelope.