Postcards

October 27, 2009

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Profile America — Tuesday, October 27th. Just about everyone on vacation stops by a souvenir shop for some picture postcards to send to friends — or just to keep as a reminder of the trip. In the U.S., the first postcards were mailed this week in 1870. For most of the time until 1898, only the U.S. Post Office was authorized to print postcards. Beginning that year, private firms were allowed to produce them, and illustrations and photographs began appearing on them about 1900. These picture postcards were wildly popular, and by 1908, Americans were sending 678 million postcards annually. Postcards are among the more than 212 billion pieces of mail handled by the U.S. Postal Service each year. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov>.

Sources: siarchives.si.edu/history/exhibits/postcard/chronology.htm
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 1085
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html