"Research has been called good business, a necessity, a gamble, a game. It is none of these - it's a state of mind." -- Martin H. Fischer (1907 - 1973)
Important Events in Postcard History
1861 - The Lipman's Postal Card, 'COPY-RIGHT SECURED 1861', Philadelphia.
1869, October 1 - Austria issued the world's first postal card. In the next few years, Austria's example was
followed by many other countries: Switzerland (1870), Belgium (1871), Spain (1873), Italy (1873),
Greece (1876), most of Scandinavia.
1870, October 1 - Britain issued first postal card, for use in that country only.
1871, June - Canada (the first non-European country) issued their first postal card.
1871-72 - The second edition Lipman card.
1872 - The first Russian postcard.
1873, January 15 - France issued their first postal card (120 x 78 mm).
1873 - Germany issued first official postal cards.
1873 - The first U.S. government postal card, one cent rate, including the imprinted stamp.
1873, June - Romania issued their first postal card (CARTA DE POSTA).
1873, December - Japan's first postcard was issued. See year conversion table
for Japanese postmarks.
1875 - General Postal Union was formed, at a meeting held in Berne, Switzerland.
1875, July 1 - Britain issued their first postal card for foreign use.
1878 - Universal Postal Union (UPU) congress held in Paris.
1878 - France issued first official postal cards (140 x 90 mm).
1882 - The first commemorative postcard was issued in Germany for the Nuremberg Exhibition.
1889 - Pictorial card showing the Eiffel Tower, engraved by Léon-Charles Libonis.
1890 - Gruss Aus (Greetings from) cards.
1893 - The World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The first commercially produced pictorial card.
1894 - Britain issued first picture postcards.
1897 - Heinrich von Stephan died in Berlin, having made a profound impact on the standardization of mail service worldwide.
1899 - Raphael Tuck & Sons issued their first postcards.
1900 - The World's Exposition in Paris.
1902 - Great Britain became the first country to allow divided back cards, allowing senders to
write both a message and the recipient's address on the back of the card.
1920 - Art Deco designs.
NOTE: Divided backs appeared in 1902 in England, 1904 in France, 1905 in Germany, and 1907 in the US.
The world's first postcard, introduced by Austria in 1869, postally used in 1873 from LEOPOLDSTADT (City of VIENNA, 2nd District).
North German Confederation Correspondenz-Karte, sent from LEIPZIG in 1872. A standard postage stamp had to be affixed before use.
Postcard [120 x 78 mm] for use in France and Algeria, postally used in 7 May 1875.
Half-groschen postcard of the German Empire, sent from BREMEN in 27.3.1874.
Great Britain's first postcard for foreign use, issued in July 1875.
HELIGOLAND 10 Pfennig Coat of Arms postal card, sent to HANNOVER in 1885. Helgoland (Heligoland): island in the North Sea, about 30 miles from Schleswig-Holstein and sixty miles from the port of Hamburg.
Copyright 2004-2008 by Lucian Millis. This site is non-commercial and therefore survives on content. We do not sell postcards or philatelic material. If our site is worthy, feel free to link to any page on this site. We do not permit the direct linking to images. That is stealing. All postcards in this gallery from the private collection of Lucian Millis.
Page Last Modified: January 11, 2005
