Downtown Dillon, Montana, 1942 Photograph - Beautiful 16"x20" Photographic Print

Interior, Public Library, Pasadena, California

[LIB2424]

Library, Central Washington College, Ellensburg, WA

[LIB2423]

Identifying and Dating Postcards

I have added some new links to the right sidebar about dating postcards. One area that many people want to know more about is how to determine the date of a postcard image.

The Curt Teich Guide is extremely useful. The Teich cards were numbered and if you know the
number key than you can date the card with some accuracy. Postmarks may not always be useful when dating a card since the image on the front of the card may be old but was stamped and posted at a much later date.

Certain things in an image may be helpful in dating the card, including cars or automobiles you
can spot in the image, billboards with dates in the advertisement (for example, the introduction of the 1957 Chevrolet), and movie marquees (Ben Hur was showing in 1959), etc.

If you are selling your postcards on an online auction site, it is probably a good idea to put
these in your description since many collectors may look for movie-related items, or automobile
related items.

Also check out the new links for dating Real Photo Post Cards (RPPC). These can often be a little
trickier when dating since many were not sent or they show images of people and houses. Some helpful reference books for your home library might include books about automobiles (often issued for a decade of cars, for example cars of the 1960s) or fashions of different decades. Remember, if you are selling your cards, identifying a 1959 Corvette, or Gothic Revival architecture, might make the difference between not selling or selling your card. Be descriptive!

Public Library, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin

[LIB3047]

1913 Public Library SOUTH NORWALK CT

A real photo post card published by Underwood & Underwood, New York and London.

Prior to 1912, private companies controlled the delivery of parcels throughout the U.S. There was a lot of money to be made delivering theses parcels, and the private companies lobbied heavily against the U.S. Post Office entering the business. Unfortunately, just as it is today, the more lucrative markets were where the population densities were the highest, meaning rural areas and particularly farmers were not getting proper service. On August 24, 1912, Congress approved a law providing for parcel post service and authorized the production of stamps to pay the parcel fees, to be effective January 1, 1913. [SOURCE]

1910 Library, Waterville, Maine

A real photo post card.

Waterville Public Library Website

[LIB01727]

1959 Public Library, Oelwein, Iowa

In 1909, a library association was formed in Oelwein with $1.00 memberships. In 1911, the Free Public Library of Oelwein was formed when the city took over ownership and Mayor J.F. Cole appointed a board of trustees. The library was open on the second floor of city hall, six days a week from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. Miss Pearl Schneider was the first librarian at a salary of $30 per month. [SOURCE] [LIB0016]

Real Photo Postcard Guide