Postcard printing has a long history in the United States. The first postcards were made during the Civil war, when John Charlton, a resident of Philadelphia, patented the first postcard in 1861. H.L. Lipman bought the patent from Charlton, and started marketing a decorated postcard known as “Lipman’s postal card.” Technically, these were postal cards, which required a stamp to be used. In 1873, the first pre-stamped postcards were introduced by John Creswell, the Post Master. These were known as “penny postcards.”
At that time in Chicago, an industrial exposition exhibiting material from all over the US was taking place. The penny postcards had lithographs of the exhibition and were soon considered as a popular means of sending quickly written mails to friends and family. These postcards have been collector’s items for many years; souvenir postcards from the 1893 Chicago fair are also coveted collectibles.
In the early days of postcards, the Post Office alone printed postcards, and the law did not allow private entities to print their own postcards. The Post Office held virtual monopoly on postcard printing until May 19, 1898, when private entities were allowed to make their own postcards by an act of Congress. The Act, known as the Private Mailing Card Act, liberated the postcard making industry and allowed printers to print postcards designed by private designers.
However, in the beginning, the federal government did not allow private postcards to be called that – postcards. So they were known as souvenir cards. Private printers were also required to put up a label on the cards saying “Private Mailing Cards,” as opposed to government printed postcards. That is why the postcards from the 1893 Chicago fair are still known as souvenir cards.
This restriction was removed by an Act on December 24, 1901, and private companies and printers could now call their postcards, postcards. That must have been a relief.
