Customer Reviews

The Birth And Development Of American Postcards: A History, Catalog, And Price Guide To U.s. Pioneer Postcards

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This book adds to the knowledge about the earliest U.S postcards, called Pioneer Postcards. Prior to May of 1873, privately printed cards were the only available, and a few examples are pictured (but at a reduced and almost unreadable size). Particularly in the era from 1873 - 1893, Dr. Friedman, clearly outlines the history of government issues postal cards and the "capricious and arbitrary" postal laws, designed to give the U. S. Postal service an advantage. The initial chronology and visual guide to pioneer government postal cards helped me to place two of the cards I had in the continuum of postal card history.

The World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago of 1893 launched what here is called the "Classic Pioneer Postcard Period" from 1893-1898, and a few examples are included. This era also hosted several other expositions including the Trans-Mississippi exposition in Omaha in 1898. Perhaps some of the most interesting cards of this period were the advertising cards, for example U.S. Warship cards, with the Schlitz beer logo. A lot of the book is a catalog of views and topicals which may be useful for the serious collector. The appendices are useful for identifying pioneer cards, and pinpointing government issues.