a glossary of postcard terms and examples

1. 3D postcard - 1970s
2. Appliqué - A postcard that has some form of cloth, metal or other embellishment attached to it.
3. Art Déco - Artistic style of the 1920s, recognisable by its symmetrical designs and straight lines.
4. Art Nouveau - Artistic style of the turn of the century, characterised by flowing lines and flowery symbols, yet often depicting impressionist more than representational art.
5. Artist Signed - Postcards with artwork that has the artist's signature, and the art is often unique for postcards.
6. Bas Relief - Postcards with a heavily raised surface, giving a papier-mâché appearance.
7. Big Letter - A postcard that shows the name of a place in very big letters that do not have pictures inside each letter (see also Large Letter).
8. Composites - A number of individual cards, that when placed together in a group, form a larger picture. Also called "installment" cards.

   

      Above, Example of a court card, postmarked 1899, showing
   Robert Burns and his cottage and monument in Ayr. Court
    card or court sized card was the name given to a size of
    picture postcard, mainly used in the United Kingdom,
    which were approximately 4.75 x 3.5 inches and predates the
    standard size of 5.5 x 3.5 inches. Court cards were smaller
    and squarer in shape than later cards and were used from
    about 1894 to 1902. In keeping with the regulations of the
    time, they had an undivided back for the address only and
    the message had to be written on the 'front' of the card.
    Many fine examples of these still exist and are sought after
    by postcard collectors and philatelists alike. Although
    mainly used in the UK, many were printed by
   chromolithography in Germany.

9. Court Cards - The official size for British postcards between 1894–1899, measuring 115 mm × 89 mm (4.5 in × 3.5 in).
10. Deltiology - (from Greek δελτίον, deltion, diminutive of δέλτος, deltos, "writing tablet, letter"; and -λογία, -logia) is the study and collection of postcards. Professor Randall Rhoades of Ashland, Ohio, coined a word in 1945 that became the accepted description of the study of picture postcards. It took about 20 years for the name to appear in the dictionary the first time. Compared to philately, the identification of a postcard's place and time of production can often be an impossible task because postcards, unlike stamps, are produced in a decentralised, unregulated manner. For this reason, some collectors choose to limit their acquisitions to cards by specific artists and publishers, or by time and location.
11. Divided Back - Postcards with a back divided into two sections, one for the message, the other for the address. British cards were first divided in 1902 and American cards in 1907.
12. Django Fontina - A postcard written to a stranger, typically as a means of disseminating poetry.
13. Early - Any card issued before the Divided Back was introduced.
14. Embossed - Postcards with a raised surface.
15. Hand-tinted - Black-and-white images were tinted by hand using watercolours and stencils.
16. Hold-to-Light - Also referred to as ‘HTL’, postcards often of a night time scene with cut out areas to show the light.
17. Intermediate Size - The link between Court Cards and Standard Size, measuring 130 mm × 80 mm (5.1 in × 3.1 in).
18. Kaleidoscopes - Postcards with a rotating wheel that reveals a myriad of colours when turned.
19. Large Letter - A postcard that has the name of a place shown as a series of very large letters, inside of each of which is a picture of that locale (see also Big Letter).
20. Midget Postcards - Novelty cards of the size 90 mm × 70 mm (3.54 in × 2.76 in).
21. Novelty - Any postcard that deviates in any way from the norm. Cards that do something, or have articles attached to them, or are printed in an unusual size or on strange materials. An example is cards made of leather.
22. Oilette - A trade name used by Raphael Tuck & Sons for postcards reproduced from original paintings.
23. A postcard or post card is a rectangular piece of thick paper or thin cardboard intended for writing and mailing without an envelope.
24. Postcardese - The style of writing used on postcards; short sentences, jumping from one subject to another.
25. Real Photographic - Abbreviated to "RP."" Postcards produced by a photographic, rather than a printing, process.
26. Reward Cards - Cards that were given away to school children for good work.
27. Standard Size - Introduced in Britain in November 1899, measuring 140 mm × 89 mm (5.5 in × 3.5 in
28. Topographical - Postcards showing street scenes and general views. Judges Postcards produced many British topographical views.
29. Undivided Back - Postcards with a plain back where all of this space was used for the address. This is usually in reference to Early cards, although undivided were still in common use up until 1907.
30. Vignette - Usually found on undivided back cards, consisting of a design that does not occupy the whole of the picture side. Vignettes may be anything from a small sketch in one corner of the card, to a design cover three quarters of the card. The purpose is to leave some space for the message to be written, as the entire reverse of the card could only be used for the address.
31. Wood Postcards - made of thin wood have been produced and sold in the U.S. as keepsakes. Wooden postcards were sold for the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair held in Forest Park. Many included puns associated with wood: "Exposition is more than oak-a", "it is ash-tonishing", I wood spruce up and come", "You walnut regret it." and "Butternut delay". The Lewis and Clark Exposition of 1905 and the Jamestown Exposition of 1907 included wooden postcard souvenirs. The tradition of folksy puns continued in later wooden postcard lines. Others feature images, cartoons, advertisements and event commemorations.
32. Write-Away - A card with the opening line of a sentence, which the sender would then complete. Often found on early comic cards.

Related Links:

• Worldwide postcard exchange project
• English Heritage Archive, of nearly 5000 postcards collected by Nigel Temple. Use Advanced Search/Collections/Nigel Temple Postcards to view. The main theme of this collection is public parks and gardens. Coverage of the collection is national, and the bulk of the postcards date between 1900 and 1910.
• postaletrice A growing collection of select vintage photographic postcards from all over the world, classified by location and topic.
• Award-winning Art from Vintage Postcards — Collection of vintage digitally colorized postcards
• Vintage Postcard Forum — Collecting vintage postcards