These postcards cost 1¢ to mail. Postage was temporarily raised to 2¢ from 1917 to 1919 to cover the cost of World War I & from 1925 to 1928 (not sure the reason for the latter). Prior to 1898, only the U. S. Post Office could manufacture post cards. These were generic post cards, blank on one side where the sender could write a message and printed postage on the other side with space for a mailing address. In 1898, Congress authorized the use of cards manufactured by others. These cards could not be called "postcards", as this term was restricted to cards printed by the Post Office. They were often called "Private Mailing Cards" or "Private Cards". One side was reserved for the address; the other side could contain any printed or written matter. In 1907, Congress allowed the back to be divided so that the sender could write a message on the left side of the back and the address to whom the post card was to be sent on the right side. At first, the message area was much smaller than the address area, but eventually the two areas became the same size. Most of these cards were printed in Germany. When World War I broke out, this industry suffered greatly and many of the printing plants were never re-built after the war.
Are They For Sale?
All of the cards shown on this site are in the hands of private collectors. They are shown for your enjoyment. None are for sale. You can find many old postcards available for sale elsewhere on the Internet."
Penny Postcards
