Almost every postcard can be dated to within a decade, and many to within a year or two, without any special equipment. The clues are printed on the card itself: the layout of the back, the words in the corner where the stamp goes, the publisher's name and code, the postage rate on the stamp and the date in the postmark. Each clue narrows the window a little more.
This is the method I use on every card I list. Start at the top and work down. Stop when you run out of clues, and give your answer as a range ("c. 1910 to 1915") rather than guessing at a single year.
The short version
| Era | Approximate dates | The giveaway |
|---|---|---|
| Pioneer and government postals | before 1898 | Usually government-printed, pre-stamped cards; privately printed view cards are rare |
| Private mailing cards | 1898 to 1901 | "Private Mailing Card" and "Authorized by Act of Congress, May 19, 1898" on the back |
| Undivided back | 1901 to 1907 | "Post Card" on the back, no dividing line; the back is for the address only |
| Divided back | 1907 to about 1915 | A line down the middle of the back, message on the left, address on the right |
| White border | about 1915 to 1930 | A white frame around the picture on the front |
| Linen | about 1931 to the early 1950s | Textured, cloth-like paper and bright, saturated inks |
| Photochrome ("chrome") | 1939 onward | Glossy, full-color photograph, common from the late 1940s |
The dates overlap at the edges. Printers used up old card stock, publishers kept popular designs in print for years, and cards often sat in a shop rack for a long time before anyone bought and mailed them. Treat each era as a strong hint, then confirm it with the other clues.
Step 1: Look at the back design
The back of a postcard changed in response to postal rules, so its layout is the single most reliable clue.
Private mailing cards (1898 to 1901)
Before 1898, privately printed cards had to pay the letter rate, while government postal cards went for a penny. An Act of Congress dated May 19, 1898 allowed private publishers to print cards that could be mailed at the same one-cent rate, as long as they were labeled "Private Mailing Card." If you see that phrase, and often the line "Authorized by Act of Congress, May 19, 1898," your card was printed in roughly 1898 to 1901.
Undivided backs (1901 to 1907)
From December 24, 1901, private publishers were allowed to use the words "Post Card" instead. But the rules still reserved the entire back for the address. Anyone who wanted to write a message had to squeeze it onto the front, which is why so many cards from these years have handwriting crammed into the sky or into a blank strip under the picture. An undivided back with "Post Card" in the heading usually means 1901 to 1907.
Divided backs (1907 to about 1915)
On March 1, 1907, the United States began allowing a message on the left half of the back, with the address on the right. Publishers added a dividing line, and the postcard craze took off. Billions of cards were mailed and collected in these years, and many collectors call it the golden age. A divided back with a full-bleed picture on the front, often printed in Germany, typically dates from 1907 to about 1915.
White borders (about 1915 to 1930)
The First World War cut off the high-quality German printing that had dominated the American market, and domestic printers economized on ink. One result is a white border around the image. A white-bordered card with a divided back is usually from about 1915 to 1930.
Linens (about 1931 to the early 1950s)
In the early 1930s, printers began using paper embossed with a fine cloth-like texture, which let them print vivid inks quickly and cheaply. Curt Teich of Chicago led the way. Run a fingertip over the front: if you can feel a woven texture and the colors look bold and slightly unreal, you probably have a linen. These cards are the visual record of the highway age, full of tourist courts, gas stations, diners and the famous large-letter "Greetings from" designs.
Photochromes (1939 onward)
Glossy, full-color photographic cards appeared at the end of the 1930s and took over after the Second World War. Early chromes are the standard 3.5 by 5.5 inch size. Larger "continental" cards, about 4 by 6 inches, became common later, so a big glossy card is usually from the 1960s or after.
Step 2: Real photo postcards: read the stamp box
A real photo postcard is a photograph developed on paper with a postcard back already printed on it. Printed text doesn't tell you much about these, but the little box where the stamp goes often does. Photographic paper makers printed their brand in that box, and the design changed over time.
| Stamp box | Approximate dates |
|---|---|
| AZO, four triangles pointing up | 1904 to 1918 |
| AZO, two triangles up and two down | 1918 to 1930 |
| AZO, squares in the corners | 1926 to the 1940s |
| VELOX, squares in the corners | 1901 to 1914 |
| CYKO | 1904 to the 1920s |
| DOPS | 1925 to 1942 |
| EKC | 1930 to 1950 |
These ranges come from collectors' reference lists, and different lists disagree by a few years at the edges. Treat them as approximate, and combine them with the other clues. I explain the rest of the real photo process in my guide to real photo postcards.
Step 3: Find the publisher and any code
Look along the bottom edge of the back, in the dividing line, or in the corner for a publisher's name. A few publishers make dating much easier.
Curt Teich & Co. printed an enormous share of American view cards and numbered almost all of them. From the 1930s on, Teich codes usually begin with a digit and a letter, such as "5A" or "9B." The digit is the last digit of the year, and the letter gives the decade: A for the 1930s, B for the 1940s, C for the 1950s, and so on. So a card coded 5A-H was printed in 1935, and 9B in 1949. The Teich company archive is held by the Newberry Library in Chicago, which researchers can consult for exact production records.
Detroit Publishing Company produced high-quality "Phostint" view cards in the early 1900s, and the company wound down in the 1920s, so its cards fall early.
Local publishers. Many town views were printed for a local drugstore, stationer or general store, whose name appears on the back. A city directory or newspaper archive can tell you when that business was open, which sets limits on when the card could have been printed.
Step 4: Check the stamp and the postage rate
If the card was mailed, the stamp is another clue. The domestic postcard rate stayed at one cent for most of the first half of the twentieth century, with a few changes that help with dating.
- One cent from 1898.
- Two cents from November 1917 to July 1919, a wartime increase.
- Back to one cent from July 1919 to January 1952.
- Two cents from 1952, and three cents from 1958.
A two-cent stamp on a white-border card points to 1917 to 1919, or to a sender who simply overpaid. The stamp's design can also be dated from any stamp catalog.
Step 5: Read the postmark
A clear postmark gives you the date the card was mailed. That's the latest possible date for printing, not the printing date itself, since cards could sit in a shop or a drawer for years. Look for the town and state as well, because they don't always match the view on the front. Travelers often bought cards in one place and mailed them days later from another.
Many postmarks are faint or partial. Under a strong light and a magnifier, you can often read the year even when the month is gone. If you can't read it, say so in the description rather than guessing.
Step 6: Use what's in the picture
When the printed clues run out, the picture itself helps.
- Cars and transportation. Horse-drawn wagons, early automobiles, trolley lines, the style of a bus or a gas pump.
- Signs and storefronts. A business name you can look up, a theater marquee with a film title, a sign for a product launched in a known year.
- Buildings. A courthouse under construction, a hotel before its new wing, a block before the fire. Local historical societies often know exactly when buildings went up or came down.
- Clothing and street life. Useful as a rough check, but slower to date than the other clues.
Putting it together: an example
Say you have a white-bordered card of a small-town main street. The back is divided, the publisher is a local drugstore, and it carries a two-cent stamp with a postmark you can read as 1918.
- White border and divided back: about 1915 to 1930.
- Two-cent stamp: probably mailed between November 1917 and July 1919.
- Postmark 1918: it was printed no later than 1918.
The honest description is "c. 1915 to 1918, postally used 1918." That's more useful to a buyer, and more accurate, than "antique postcard" or a confident single year with nothing behind it.
Common dating mistakes
- Dating from the message alone. People wrote dates on cards they found in a drawer years later. A written date is evidence, but it isn't proof.
- Treating the postmark as the printing date. The postmark is when it was mailed, not when it was made.
- Calling every glossy card "vintage chrome." Modern reproductions exist, especially of popular linens and early real photos. Reproductions are often marked on the back; check before you buy.
- Ignoring size. Standard early cards are about 3.5 by 5.5 inches. A 4 by 6 inch card is almost always later.
How I use this on my own listings
Every card I list gets a date range and a short note on how I worked it out: the back type, the stamp box, the publisher's code or the postmark. When the evidence only supports a range, you get the range. If you want to see the method in action, the facts table on each card's page shows the date and its basis side by side.
If you have a card you're curious about, the steps above will get you most of the way. Start with the back, read the stamp box if it's a real photo, look for a publisher's code, then check the stamp and the postmark. Most cards will give up their age within a few minutes.