Postcards
by Richard McKinstry

Postcards seem to be everywhere, and from their advent in the mid-1800s they have been prized by collectors. Who among us has not seen nineteenth and twentieth century scrapbooks filled with them. Some are comical in nature, others portray historical figures, some were issued for advertising purposes, others are important because they commemorate a special event. Valentines and New Year's greetings are postcards, too. Picture postcards owed their early artistry to the popular print, and as chromolithography and printing technology developed, they became more intricate and colorful. The best postcards of a century and more ago were produced in Germany and England, and notable artists, including the Czech Alphonse Mucha and American Charles Dana Gibson, found success as postcard designers.