Postcard Varieties
A commercial offering by J.Saunders of Dovercourt. promoting Harwich and Dovercourt, with a push to build properties in the area
Postcard Varieties
There are many types of collectible vintage postcards. Hold-to-light postcards were made with tissue paper surrounded by two pieces of regular paper, so light would shine through. Fold-out postcards, popular in the 1950s, had multiple postcards attached in a long strip. Real photograph postcards (RPPCs) are photographs with a postcard backing.
Novelty postcards were made using wood, aluminium, copper, and cork. Silk postcards – often embroidered or with a printed image – were wrapped around cardboard and sent in see-through glassine paper envelopes, and were especially popular during WW1.
In the 1930s and 1940s, postcards were printed on brightly coloured paper designed to look like linen.
Most vintage postcard collectors focus on themes, like Christmas, Halloween, portraits of movie stars, European royalty and Geographical areas, wartime imagery, and photos of natural disasters.
Booklets
Commercial Offerings
Edward Saunders the Dovercourt Builders, offered this small commercial booklet, with both scenic and property images.
Edward Saunders the Dovercourt Builders, offered this small commercial booklet, with both scenic and property images.
Fold Out's
A "Dainty" Postal Souvenir with miniature scenes of Dovercourt
A "Dainty" Postal Souvenir with miniature scenes of Dovercourt
Letter Cards
Panoramic Cards
In 1904 the Cirkut Camera, capable of capturing a 360-degree panorama was patented. Although this device was employed in postcard production, most panoramic cards were made by cropping and contact printing traditional large format glass negatives that could produce panoramas of two or three panels. Even when longer images were desired, there was rarely any loss of fidelity because the great detail these negatives captured easily allowed for enlargement. Cirkut cameras and the similar models that followed were primarily designed for taking large group photographs, but the landscape had been the most common theme for panoramic paintings for some time, and this tradition continued on with postcards. Since they were printed two, three, four, sometimes eight times the typical postcard length they were most often folded so they could be mailed as regulation sized postcards. The rarity of these cards increases with the number of folds they contain. Some long unfolded cards were also produced and panoramic compositions were placed on ordinary sized cards creating very large blank areas alongside it. Many of these panelled cards have not aged well and have torn apart from excessive folding. A single card with one torn edge, especially without any title or markings on the back, is usually a sign that it is only a piece of what was once a much larger card. Though sometimes labelled as novelty cards, panoramic postcards are usually just considered a variation of the view-card.
In 1904 the Cirkut Camera, capable of capturing a 360-degree panorama was patented. Although this device was employed in postcard production, most panoramic cards were made by cropping and contact printing traditional large format glass negatives that could produce panoramas of two or three panels. Even when longer images were desired, there was rarely any loss of fidelity because the great detail these negatives captured easily allowed for enlargement. Cirkut cameras and the similar models that followed were primarily designed for taking large group photographs, but the landscape had been the most common theme for panoramic paintings for some time, and this tradition continued on with postcards. Since they were printed two, three, four, sometimes eight times the typical postcard length they were most often folded so they could be mailed as regulation sized postcards. The rarity of these cards increases with the number of folds they contain. Some long unfolded cards were also produced and panoramic compositions were placed on ordinary sized cards creating very large blank areas alongside it. Many of these panelled cards have not aged well and have torn apart from excessive folding. A single card with one torn edge, especially without any title or markings on the back, is usually a sign that it is only a piece of what was once a much larger card. Though sometimes labelled as novelty cards, panoramic postcards are usually just considered a variation of the view-card.
#95616 Dovercourt Bay & Lower Marine Parade (1905) Panoramic Postcards
By 1905 the collecting and sending of postcards had turned into a full blown craze that encouraged more buyers and sellers to get involved. An abundance of available easy credit in these overly optimistic times created a general business boom that allowed the production of cards to increase dramatically, and postcard collecting turned into the world’s largest hobby. Everyone from the local chemist store to paper manufacturing firms became card publishers to get in on this phenomenon. While the growth of the middle class provided most of the buying power to sustain such frivolity, postcards in these years were cheap enough to be purchased by nearly everyone. Even the poor with little income to spare to collect cards purchased quantities of them for correspondence in order to keep in contact with scattered family members. The types of postcard produced increased in variety and in size. These double size cards were dwarfed by even larger Giant Size Penny Cards ( "A4" size) as seen in the last image.
By 1905 the collecting and sending of postcards had turned into a full blown craze that encouraged more buyers and sellers to get involved. An abundance of available easy credit in these overly optimistic times created a general business boom that allowed the production of cards to increase dramatically, and postcard collecting turned into the world’s largest hobby. Everyone from the local chemist store to paper manufacturing firms became card publishers to get in on this phenomenon. While the growth of the middle class provided most of the buying power to sustain such frivolity, postcards in these years were cheap enough to be purchased by nearly everyone. Even the poor with little income to spare to collect cards purchased quantities of them for correspondence in order to keep in contact with scattered family members. The types of postcard produced increased in variety and in size. These double size cards were dwarfed by even larger Giant Size Penny Cards ( "A4" size) as seen in the last image.
